


Gaymestop

by DValkyrie, kayo_chin



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Game Store AU, Multi, a gratuitous au from actual game store employees, rarepair hell, slightly aged up characters, subunit roomies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-05-26 11:07:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 48,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6236257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DValkyrie/pseuds/DValkyrie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayo_chin/pseuds/kayo_chin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A gratuitous nozopana game store AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> We dedicate this work to Miki and Siobhan, ;) ;). This got way out of hand.

Everyone’s dream job is to work at a game store. Kids love it for the constant array of games and toys to drool over, tourists love it for the bright colours and nerds who work there, and parents love it because it’s just a dumping ground for their little, rotten satanic spawn, known as children. 

Toujou Nozomi has officially stopped giving a flying fuck about that.

“Oh my God,” she hisses, shutting the store doors as fast as its mechanism would allow her to. 

“Get your satanic children out of my store.” She can still hear the sound of sticky fingers knocking cases off the shelves in her mind, even as she flips around the closed sign and turns back to the counter. “I’ll exorcise them, I don’t even care.”

She really didn’t. She’d had this job for nearly five years, and the honeymoon period came screeching to a halt. The dream job was slowly turning into a nightmare, and Nozomi  _ dreaded  _ getting up at 7:30am every morning to open the damn store.    
  
Nozomi practically kicked the back door open and stormed to the DVD player. She turned that off with a single punch. If she had to hear that cheerful announcer say “one, two, free!” one more time she’s was definitely going to throw the DVD player straight through the front display and blame it on thieves. Her fingers were already twitching, ready for the smoke break she would have taken half an hour ago if not for the family from hell that came into the store right before close.

With a sigh, Nozomi pulled out her phone from her bra and pulled out her saving grace: the AUX cord. She plugged her phone in, and hit shuffle. [The soothing sounds of ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syeR_QdoCTg) [ _ Blink 182  _ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syeR_QdoCTg) resonated from the wall speakers, and she let out a happy sigh, a smile forming on her lips. 

Now, it was all auto-pilot from here, the comforting slide-and-count of coins in the register helping to soothe her post-shift jitters.   
  
“New record for cashing up!” She cheerfully announced, shutting down each register and stowing the stores earning away safely, picking up her bag and her cigarettes as she practically jogged out the store, barely conscious of her hands automatically flicking off the lights and setting the alarm as she left. The clicking her her keys as she locked the door was music to her ears, the ambient hum of a nearly empty mall the backing track to her short walk to the nearest smoking area.

“Aw yeah, come to mama,” she stuck the cigarette between her lips and pulled out her lighter: it had a small witch character engraved on the side, and the satisfying ‘click’ of the flame sprouting made it all that much better.   
Nozomi slid on her leather jacket in an attempt to hide the blue polo shirt the store had designated as uniform, unclipping her nametag and stuffing it in her pocket as she went, fingers sliding over her phone and reminding her of the messages she had ignored during the day.

“Oh, Umi-chan!” Nozomi gleefully looked at the message from earlier:

> _ Umi, 5:24pm  
>  _ _ Nozomi, can you try and find the chocolate bread on your way home please? _

“Pfft, a bit late for that  _ now,  _ Umi-chan,” Nozomi rolled her eyes. Being exactly one metre out of the shopping centre was  _ far  _ too far to go back and find the bread. She quickly typed back a response.

> _ Nozomi: 6:25pm _ _  
>  _ _ I can try, but no promises!  _ _  
>  _ _ \- N xx _

Immediately under that message was another from Rin, reading with much less grammatical sense:

> _ Rin, 5:47pm  
>  _ _ chocolate bread chOCOLATE BREAD CHOCASLTE BREDA (^=˃ᆺ˂) _

“Oh come  _ on,  _ Rin-chan for fuck’s sake,” Nozomi hissed, but couldn't resist sending back a series of emojis of her own for Rin to attempt to decode. The two could go one more day without having their stupid chocolate bread. It’s not like it was that hard for either of them to walk down to the end of their street and catch a bus to the shopping centre to visit the bakery. 

> _ Nozomi, 6:28pm  
>  _ _ (^._.^)ﾉ (҂⌣̀_⌣́)  
>  _ _ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) _

Nozomi let out a giggle at the stupid emojis. They were so adorable and pointless, just like Rin. The kid was only nineteen, and she didn't have anything to worry about her first year of getting through uni. It was a miracle that the kid was able to get in on a scholarship, but it was maintaining her grades that would  _ really  _ show if Rin would be able to hold herself. The redhead had really gotten lucky to get a roommate like Nozomi, who would put up with her antics, and Umi, who was more than willing to help her get her studies on track.

Umi, who was another animal all together. How she had ended up living with Rin and herself Nozomi would never understand, with the twenty year old flip flopping between studious intensity and crippling anxiety with the speed of a bullet train. When they had first started rooming together, Nozomi couldn't help but worry she’d been stuck with a stick in the mud, but seeing Umi scream over horror movies and miss her mouth when trying to eat cereal at 4am over the years had opened up Nozomi’s mind to the dichotomies of humanity, especially among her roommates.

She still wasn't going to buy them their chocolate bread though. Even five more minutes in the mall would be too much for her today.

Nozomi stuck her earphones into her heavily pierced ears, and skipped on down the street to her car. The girl was too much of a cheapskate to pay $5-a-day for staff parking, and really didn't mind the walk. Walking at night time was just  _ exciting,  _ she imagined she was in some kind of tale, a lonely anti-hero having an internal monologue with scenes playing like some kind of anime opening, or maybe a noire story? Who knows. She briefly wishes she owned a trench-coat.

_ “Note to self: next paycheck, buy a badass trench coat.”  _

“Oh!” Nozomi stopped dead in her tracks, and reached into her man purse. The 21-year-old might be a complete asshat who is over her job of nearly five years and hated small children, but she was a rather spiritual person. She pulled out her tarot card deck and gave it a quick shuffle. 

She didn’t really have time for full readings the way she did before, but shuffling and pulling a card from the top of the deck had worked thus far for a quick read of her situation. Plus it gave her something to do on her walk to the car. Her steps slowed minisculely as she closed her eyes, took a deep breath through her knows, and drew a card.

Nozomi smiled.

“Wheel of fortune.” A good sign, all things considered; it was one of the few cards without a person on it, and generally signified good karma. It also meant good luck would come her way of it’s own volition, which absolutely suited her. She smiled, stuffed the cards back into her pocket, and hop-danced a few steps to her music.

“Better than the devil I got yesterday,” she snickered and continued her walk. 

A familiar craving came knocking like an unwanted Jehovah’s witness, and she let out an angry growl. Nozomi reached into her pockets and pulled out  _ another  _ cigarette.

“One day, I'm going to quit,” She grumbled while popping the cancer stick into her mouth and pulling out her trusty lighter. 

“ _ Now  _ I can continue my journey,” she skipped on. 

Or, she would have, had she not almost collided with a folding table set up on the footpath.

“What the shit--” she caught herself and nearly choked on her cigarette, blinking away her confusion as she stared down at the goods piled on the table. There was a fair number of small aluminium trays, wrapped in plastic and containing individual chocolate breads. She leant her head around the display, spotting the ‘SALE’ sign hastily taped to the front, before looking up at the name of the store; _Homura Bakery_.

Nozomi could practically feel her brain short-circuiting. What were the actual chances. She had never noticed this bakery on her walks before (though probably before she’d never almost collided with a sale table),  _ and _ there just  _ happened _ to be the very bread she was supposed to get  _ on sale _ ?

‘Wheel of fortune,’ her brain helpfully supplied, apparently very happy with this turn of events.

She couldn't very well lie her way out of this one to her roommates. She piled as many chocolate breads into her arms as she could carry and bustled her way into the bakery.

* * *

 

 

With a sigh of relief, Nozomi inserted the keys to her flat and practically fell inside. The warmth from the heater engulfed her, and she smiled.

“I’m home,” Nozomi called out, hearing the television blaring and random tapping noises from the living room.

“Nozomi-chan!” A familiar voice cracked through the air like a whip, and the noises stopped suddenly. Rin came bounding into the hallway, wearing nothing but a cheap tank top and boxer shorts. Nozomi smiled and threw the back of chocolate bread at the athlete, who caught it instantly.

“Here’s your bread, kiddo,” she smiled and took off her shoes and jacket. Rin clutched the bag close to her chest and tore off back down the hallway, silent except for the sound of her feet thudding against hardwood floors, followed by the carpet of her room and a 'thunk' from the couch in the living room. The redhead would give off the appearance of hoarding, but Nozomi knew she would save some for her roommates anyway. Childish Rin was, selfish she was not?

“Welcome home, Nozomi,” came Umi’s warm tone from the kitchen. 

“Rin seems happy.”

“I got the chocolate bread,” Nozomi replied. She nudged her shoes towards the pile near the doorway and slumped into the kitchen, taking a seat at the breakfast bar and watching as Umi carefully washed the vegetables she intended to put into dinner. Trust Umi to give them a healthy meal from all five food groups, even if it wasn't immediately apparent what that dinner would be. The five food groups paled in comparison to the other loaf of chocolate bread Nozomi and placed on the kitchen counter for Umi.

“What’s for dinner, Umineko?”

“Can you  _ stop  _ calling me that please?”

“It’s Umineko or Umichi, make up your mind, kiddo.”

Umi groaned, nearly slicing her thumb off with the potato peeler. This idiot was so  _ insufferable,  _ but she paid her rent, got them discounts on the latest games and could cook a  _ mean  _ steak.

“We’re having Salmon and vegetables.”

“Where’d you learn that one?”

“Birdyfoods.com, fantastic blog!” It takes amazing effort for Nozomi not to snort at that blog name, not wanting to interrupt her roommate when she speaks so happily. “Whoever writes it must  _ really  _ be a culinary master.”

“It could just be some university drop-out making shit up,”

“I-It’s not!” Umi whirled around to glare at her housemate. 

“They’re very reasonable, and they actually measure their portions! Do you know how very few people do that?”

“Yep,” Nozomi sighed as the television noises resumed blasting from the other room.

“I take it Rin’s enjoying  _ Street Fighter V? _ ”

“Yep, but I wish she could balance her game time with study time,” Umi sighed. “She’s dropped back to the bottom of her class in health science,”

“Rest in peace, sweet Rin-chan,” Nozomi grinned at the howling noises coming from the living room.

“THAT ASSHOLE GOT ME AGAIN!” 

“What about you, Umi? How’s law going for you?”

“Fine, I’m still on top of everything, which is always good,” Umi smiled at herself. She was very proud of being on the Dean’s list three times in a row. And she deserved to be. Umi spent almost as much time freaking out about her studies as she did actually studying. It was sort of amazing how she found time to do literally anything else.

Umi seemed to focus very intently on picking the dark spots out of the potato in her hands. 

“Are you planning on going back some time soon?”

“Nope,” Nozomi replied almost immediately, pulling the potato out of Umi’s hands and putting it in the pile she’d already done. 

“But when I do you’ll be the first to know.” Umi gave a tight lipped smile, but nodded and accepted the older woman’s answer, moving back to to the tablet on the bench and unlocking the screen to look over her recipe again. Nozomi took this chance to steal an apple from the bowl and retreat to her room, giving Rin a quick look and a ‘fight on!’ as she passed.

_ ‘Okay, tomorrow,’ _ she mentally catalogued, ripping off her work polo and throwing it onto the floor vaguely near the rest of her laundry.  _ ‘Another early shift, ugh. Should probably start stocktake prep before it gets too close. Should, but won’t.’ _

Ah, stocktake, everyone retail employees worst freaking nightmare. 

Why the hell couldn't her manager just do it? The bitch had been there for twice as long as her, surely she could go through a few more? Nozomi  _ despised  _ stocktake and back-office work with an absolute passion. Of course, if she was manager she’d probably delegate that work too, but she wasn't manager, and she if she wanted to complain in the privacy of her own room, she damn well could.

She stood in her bra and black work skirt, staring at herself in the mirror.

_ “Another mental note: save up for chest tattoo. I’m looking a bit bare,”  _ She smiled to herself. She turned in front of the mirror; first to check the flowers running up and down her left arm, then to her right arm, contrasting the smooth colourful strokes of the flowers with start quotes in a variety of languages and scripts. She couldn't be bothered stretching to check the variety on her back, and she wasn't quite ready for the emotional rush that came with  even acknowledging the word tattooed beneath her ear, so she simply ran a finger along the lily on her neck and threw on a shirt from the floor that seemed mostly clean.

“I’ll just spray a tonne of perfume on my stupid polo for tomorrow. That’s close enough to washing it, right?” She thought out loud.   
  
How much more of this damn job will she have to take? 

* * *

 

****_WANTED:_ __  
_  
_ _CASUAL SALES ASSOCIATE FOR EZ GAMES_

 

The girl with scattered pink in her dark brown hair went wide-eyed. Her hands shook, and she was fairly certain that her phone was going to fall out of her grip if she wasn’t careful.

“What’s up, Hanayo-chan?”

The girl’s eyes twitched as she handed her phone over to her ginger-haired friend shakily. 

“Ooh! That sound  _ perfect  _ for you, Hanayo-chan! Put your resume in!”

“I’m...I’m gonna do it!!” The girl stood up from her seat in the cafe and raised her hand up in a stereotypical anime fashion. Eyes from all across the cafe shot to her, burning into her back as she flushed, slumping back into her chair and ducking her head forward, hiding her burning face as best she could. She sent a half hearted glare to her seatmate as she clapped, letting out a joyful ‘fight!’ Before catching onto Hanayo’s mood and sheepishly downing half her hot chocolate in one gulp.

“I've heard it’s like, super hard to get a job there though. So many people must want to work there…” the ginger girl tapped her fingers against the edges of her plastic cup, watching the crowds pass the glass windows of the cafe they sat in.

“Honoka…” A third woman, ashen haired and cherub-faced, approached the table with a latte and a macaron before taking the final empty seat, “you’re not helping.” Honoka made an apologetic face, eyes darting between Hanayo and the cherubic girl in a desperate plea for help. Hanayo merely pressed her cheek further into the cool tabletop, grumbling quietly.

“It really is perfect for you, Hana-chan. I don’t know anyone who knows more about games than you. You’ll really wow them!” The ashen-haired girl chirped.

“Kotori-chan is right, you’ll blow them all away!” Honoka added. Without raising her face, the brown-and-pink haired girl turned her head and looked up at the older women with watery eyes. “You think?”

“Completely.” Kotori smiled warmly. “Now drink your hot chocolate, it’s going cold.”

Hanayo immediately lifted her head, not wanting to waste a drop of her drink, especially since it was a perfect accompaniment to the muffins she just inhaled.

* * *

 

  
“So, Miss Koizumi, what makes you want to work at this company?” A woman with brown hair done in a sidebraid smiled at Hanayo from across a table in the shopping centre food court. The woman was tiny, and barely had any meat on her bones. She wore a blue polo shirt with orange writing and a pair of fitted trousers, ankles crossed neatly. 

“W-Well, I really like video games, and I need to work on my social skills, plus this shopping centre is close to my uni and I can’t think of a better job…” 

The woman smiled and chuckled.

“You sound just like another employee I know,”

Hanayo didn't know how to respond, so she grinned sheepishly. The woman, whose nametag read ‘Aina,’ flicked through the resume in front of her.

“You like A-Rise?”

“Y-Yes, they’re my favourite music group, along with Pile, Ripishika and-”

“When can you start?”

“I-I-I-I beg your pardon?” Hanayo felt as if she had been shot. Everything was blurring into one, and there was nothing she could really do apart from concentrate on her breathing.

“Miss Koizumi, I only hire people I feel that are  _ real,  _ and that I can have a conversation with. You seem like a lovely young girl who is very pure, and for that reason, I’d like to have you on my team.” The manager was smiling wider and wider, clearly enjoying her role in this conversation.

“R-Really!?” 

“Of course.”

Hanayo’s hands shook again as she gripped the table for support. 

“I-I can start tomorrow afternoon!”   
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sin continues.
> 
> We also have matching icons on AO3, because we're that gay. ;D

The bliss Hanayo felt from yesterday’s news was still with her as she stood out the front of the store. The glass was clean, and had sale posters for the latest console deals plastered onto poles. A table at the front showed games on sale, indicated by the stickers with tiny white alpacas on a green background. Hanayo smiled at the stickers, and gently placed her finger on the cover of some shooting game that was only $45.  
  
She was so absorbed in the tiny adorable stickers, that she didn’t hear someone walk to her side with a stack of cases in her hands.  
  
“Excuse me.”  
  
Hanayo blinked at the voice, and then looked up.  
  
Her jaw dropped.

The person standing in front of her was just a little taller than her. Dark purple hair was tied in low twintails, and vibrant green eyes were lined with the most perfect winged eyeliner Hanayo had ever seen.  
  
“Would you mind moving to the side so I could just put these down, please?”  
  
The voice was soft and polite, and Hanayo quickly sidestepped.  
  
The woman’s blue polo clung to her body, accentuating all the right curves.  
  
Not to mention those _breasts…  
  
_ “Um, can I help you with anything today?” The employee asked Hanayo.  
  
“Y-yes, actually!” Hanayo snapped out of her trance, and shook her pinkish brown hair out of her face.  
  
“I-I’m the new employee, my name is Koizumi Hanayo.”

-  
  
“New employee?” The purple-haired woman raised an eyebrow. Her manager never told her about a new employee. _‘  
  
It’s _ just _like Kussun to throw me into the deep end like this.’_

She could’ve sent a warning that it was a cinnamon roll that was probably too good for this world. Said cinnamon roll was only slightly shorter than her, though the way she seemed to tuck into herself gave her a small aura. She fidgeted nervously, occasionally tucking her pink-accented hair behind her ears, adjusting her thick-rimmed glasses as she went.  
  
“Uhm, sure? I’ll let you into the back room so you can get changed,”  
  
“I...I’m already dressed for work,”  
  
The woman’s eyes did a quick scan: a white shirt with black pants, and her hair was neatly tied back into a ponytail.  
  
The employee’s eye twitched suddenly, then she took the keys off her left wrist and jerked her head for Hanayo to follow her.

* * *

 

 

“Hanayo! Welcome!” Aina stood up from her desk in the backroom and smiled brightly at the younger girl. Nozomi leaned against the door frame, arms folded and staring daggers at her boss  
  
“I see you’ve met Non-tan behind you, she’s my second in command,”  
  
When the young girl by the name of Hanayo turned around to face Nozomi; the elder employee threw a smile on her face and raised her eyebrows.  
  
“She will also be your mentor and trainer.”  
  
_“What?!”_ Nozomi barked, and the other two females jumped, the youngest of the three letting out a quiet squeak.  
  
Nozomi realised how she must have sounded, and lowered her voice.  
  
“I-It’s nothing against you, Hanayo, really, it’s just th-”  
  
“I told you, Non-tan, that we’d be hiring again.”  
  
“No you didn’t!”  
  
“Check your messages,”  
  
Nozomi threw her hand into her shirt and whipped out her phone. She scrolled through her text messages, and then scowled at the manager.  
  
“You sent me a text two weeks ago about _maybe_ hiring some new people.”  
  
“But I did let you know, nonetheless,” Aina smiled as Nozomi’s eye twitched again.  
  
“Hanayo, may I call you Hanayo-chan?”  
  
“S-sure,”  
  
“Fantastic! Now, I’ll just need you to fill out these forms for employee registration, and then Nozomi will show you the ropes. I’m currently working on a roster for shifts. We don’t have too many people working at this store, so most people just work the same shifts over and over again.”  
  
“Kussun, I swear to a higher power that you are insufferable,” Nozomi growled, then threw the door open to the shop and stormed out.

-  
  
Hanayo’s eyes followed the older employee, but Aina gently put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
“She’s not angry at you, Hanayo-chan. Trust me.”

* * *

  
  
Soon enough, Hanayo and Nozomi stood behind the counter together. Luckily there was no one in the store, and the majority of the work had been done already.  
  
“So, I owe you an introduction,” Nozomi unfolded her arms to reveal her name-tag.  
  
“I’m Nozomi, and like the idiot out back already mentioned, I’m second-in-command here, although this store doesn’t even have an ASM.”  
  
“I’m sorry?”  
  
“Assistant store manager. ASM,” Nozomi looked down at the daily planner and let a grin twitch at her lips.  
  
“Anyway,” Nozomi bent down and opened a cupboard door beneath the counter. She pulled out a logbook that was bound with cheap plastic. On the front was the same alpaca, and on its head was a little graduation cap.  
  
“This is the staff hand book,” Nozomi did her best to hold in the groan: why was this company so fucking lame?  
  
“When you go home tonight, have a flick through it. I’ll teach you how to ring up sales today, and then tomorrow, we can work on trade-ins.” Hanayo took the level up book into her hands like it was a holy tome eyes intensely focused on it as she gave a sound nod, tucking her arms around it and holding it to her chest.

“P-please take care of me from now on!” The younger woman cried, bowing her head quickly.

Ah, that ever cliched line warmed Nozomi’s frozen heart. Perhaps this new kid would make this job a bit more bearable.

 

* * *

 

Watching Hanayo work was like watching a baby duck learn to walk. She did everything with a fierce concentration that her menial tasks probably didn’t deserve, carefully and slowly turning game cases over as she applied price stickers or gutted them to put their disks in the locked drawers behind the counter. It was almost endearing how seriously she took her task, especially since her typical anxious demeanor had melted away to intense focus.

“Sorry you got the short-stick, Hanayo, but we all have to start somewhere,” Nozomi apologised, throwing more games into a box covered in red tape. If anything, Nozomi would _gladly_ swap jobs, but the kid wasn’t ready for the firepit of satan’s sweaty balls that was back-office work.  
  
Nozomi stared at the screen, acting like she cared to count the quantity of preowned games in the box at her feet, then sighed and entered in the amount.  
  
“Once I get this ready for shipping, though, I’ll go take a lunch break.”  
  
Hanayo’s heart stopped. She’d be _alone_ for half an hour. Nozomi might as well have just said; _“I’m going to fuck off now and leave you in charge, and I’ll kill my boss in the process and dump her lifeless skeletal body in the garbage disposal area.”_  
  
“Wait, sorry?!” Hanayo squeaked. Nozomi stopped what she was doing and turned to face the young girl with a smile.  
  
“I’m going to have lunch at 1:30, and I will be back at 2pm. However, it seems like useless Hermes is still in the backroom, so you won’t be _completely_ alone.”  
  
“M-May I ask _what_ you were doing?” Hanayo pointed her first finger, adorned with an alpaca sticker reading $12, at the screen.  
  
“Oh, this?” Nozomi pointed at the screen.  
  
“It’s an RSB. Basically, to help boost the company’s pre-owned sales, we send of a bunch of games to a store that could really use them. It’s great for us so we can clear out the games we’ve had for ages, and great for the other store to boost their pre-owned sales,” Nozomi explained, she sounded like some poorly made DVD explaining how to survive at EZ Games.  
  
“F-Fascinating,” Hanayo mentally noted Nozomi’s explanation in her mind.  
  
“And it’s now my bitch and finished!” Nozomi gleefully hit a button on the keyboard and did a little dance while pointing to the printer underneath Hanayo’s feet.  
  
‘Non-tan! Swear!’ Aina’s voice sounded from the backroom, as the door was left open.

“Argh, shit,” Nozomi cursed as she picked up the warm paper that had just come out of the printer.  
  
“That’s another swear!”  
  
“Flamingos, then!” Nozomi snapped back, then took out the only working pen in the store and signed her initials and employee number.  
  
“Kussun is trying to get us to cut down on the swearing, since kids come in here all the time,” Nozomi explained, wrinkling her nose and making her septum piercing glint in the light.  
  
“Noted: don’t swear,” Hanayo fed some receipt paper out of the register and wrote it down. Nozomi looked up, green eyes crinkling.  
  
“You’re too pure for this place, y’know that?” Nozomi threw her piece of paper in the box and picked up the red sticky tape.  
  
“Y’might wanna cover your ears, too,” There was an apologetic smile and pulled back the sticky tape.

“Why?” Hanayo asked, blinking owlishly as Nozomi prepared herself.  
  
It was the worst sound in history; Hanayo’s hands flew up to her ears, eyes crinkling in discomfort. It was like a whip crack, but worse, stretched out and piercing the quiet air of the store.  
  
“Sorry about that,” Nozomi apologized and put the tape down. Shen she looked up, her mouth curled into a giggle.  
  
“Um, Hanayo?”  
  
“Y-Yes?!”  
  
“You have an alpaca on your nose.”  
  
Hanayo went cross-eyed to see what her senior was talking about, and sure enough, the little $12 sticker was stuck to her nose. She must have moved her hands to quickly that it flew up there.  
  
_“This duckling is just too cute,”_ Nozomi thought, taking a step closer and gently picking the sticker off Hanayo’s buttoned nose. Upon closer inspection, Nozomi saw a tiny nose stud on the right side.  
  
_‘How cute,’_ Nozomi thought, mere centimetres away, taking in the tiny freckles and violet eyes.  
  
She instantly cleared her throat and drew back, sticking the sticker on the edge of the counter.  
  
“I-If you need the sticker for later, you know where it is,” Nozomi mumbled, a blush forming on her cheeks.  
  
“Thank you,” Hanayo’s voice was tiny as Nozomi opened up the draw beneath the secondary register and pulled out her wallet.  
  
“A-Anyway, I’m going to get lunch. I’ll be back in like, half an hour,” Nozomi clocked out and turned on her heel, ready to sprint out of the store into the land of overpriced grilled chicken and salad, but before she did, she whirled around again.  
  
“Oh! I forgot,”  
  
Nozomi showed Hanayo that her number was on speed dial in the store phone.  
  
“If you’re ever in trouble or need help, give me a buzz. I’ll come straight back.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m telling you, Maki-chan, she’s so _fucking cute,”_ Nozomi gritted her teeth, chewing on the sponge of her cigarette with her arms folded.  
  
The redhead with a face full of flawless makeup just chuckled.  
  
“She _sounds_ it, but does your little workmate know she’s stepping into the thunderdome now that she’s got the job?”  
  
“Hey, I'd rather not crush her soul just yet,” Nozomi took out her cigarette to bite into her chicken burger.

Her redheaded companion frowned at the purple-haired woman, using a finger to wipe away the lipstick Nozomi just spread across her cheek while stuffing her face.  
  
“You’re ruining your make-up.”

“It’s lunch, I’m lunching,” countered Nozomi, making a point of dramatically shoving far too many fries into her mouth at once.  
  
“For shit’s sake, Nozomi,” Maki reached into her makeup apron and pulled out her trusty eyeliner.  
  
“C’mere,” she placed a hand on Nozomi’s head, and the game retailer shut her eyes instantly.  
  
“If you’re gonna spend three hours every morning putting on enough of this stuff to be a raccoon, then at least respect it,” Maki mumbled as she fixed up the wings on Nozomi’s eyeliner with careful flicks of her wrist.  
  
“I _do_ respect the raccoon eyes, thank you very much,” Nozomi grumbled. She _did_ appreciate what Maki was doing for her; the make-up chairs in her store were usually reserved for showing off products to people who might actually buy them, not giving free touch-ups to your friends.  
  
Nozomi liked to think it was a give-and-take, however; she’d pick up something for Maki when she went for lunch, Maki let her sit and complain for the entirety of her lunch break - and also warned her when a certain someone was in the store.

Yeah. Nozomi was not ready for that interaction just yet.  
  
“Well, at least you’re easier than the hags I get sometimes,” Maki smirked, blowing lightly on Nozomi’s face.  
  
“Just stop shoving the chips into your gaping gluttonous black hole, you fucking pig,”  
  
“I’m hungry, Maki-chan, leave me be,”  
  
“Sheesh, how _did_ Eli even put up with you?”  
  
Nozomi’s heart stopped, and her eyes flew open. Maki bit her lip, and looked away.  
  
“S-Sorry…”  
  
“Nah, don’t be,” Nozomi cracked a smile and put a single chip in her mouth.  
  
“I just-- I didn’t think, sometimes i just get on a roll, you know--”  
  
“Shit happens, my darlin’ lil’ Maki-chan, just make me look beautiful.”  
  
“Yeah yeah, whatever, Noisome.”  
  
“Hey, only Nicocchi can call me that.”

* * *

 

Hanayo never felt so alone. Is this what that guy from _127 Hours_ felt like right before he cut off his own arm? Hanayo would probably cut off her arm just to watch Nozomi walk back into the store right this second.

“Look, I just want to know how much I have left to pay on my layby.”

“Aah, yes, I just…” her hands hovered awkwardly over the keyboard, eyes jumping up and down the list of commands as she tries to figure out how to find that information. Her pinkies twitched as her breathing starts to hitch, panic setting in when the customer in front of her sighs noisily, checking their phone.  
  
_‘F7! No, that’s something else...um..F10? No that’s preorders! Oh no!’  
_  
“Everything alright?”  
  
Hanayo had never been more happy to see someone in her life. Nozomi was walking back into the store, hands behind her back and smiling. Purple eyes widened with joy, and an angelic choir sounded as Nozomi winked at her.  
  
“N-Nozomi-senpai! I need your help!”  
  
“Okay, what’s the matter?” Nozomi slid behind the counter and shoved her wallet and cigarettes into the draw. The customer turned to the tattooed employe and sighed.  
  
“I wanna know how much I left on my layby.”  
  
“No worries, sir,” Nozomi’s smile grew, but Hanayo could see the synthetic aura behind it. Nozomi hit F11, and typed in the guy’s last name.  
  
“You’ve got $77.85 left, which you can pay off either today or within the next two weeks.”  
  
“Wait, what?! I thought it was less than that!”  
  
Nozomi steeled herself physically, and Hanayo made the smart move to take half a step back.  
  
“You _did_ have less, but there was a price change.”  
  
“I could’ve sworn-”  
  
In one swift move, Nozomi turned the screen around, a synthetic smile still plastered onto her face like some kind of doll.  
  
“Okay, let me spell it out for you,”  
  
Hanayo peered on, wondering what Nozomi was going to do. She almost wanted to take notes.  
  
“You _did_ have a total of $50, however, this item is in our top 200 items that _always_ gets its price changed, now we _did_ warn you, about this,” The employee was quick to cut across the customer, eyes twinkling,  
“We sent you a text message _and_ left a home phone message to inform you of our price changes. Therefore, your total left to pay is $77.85.”  
  
The customer looked gobsmacked at Nozomi. Hanayo shared his expression.  
  
"Now, seeing as you can't seem to get off your phone, you would have  _surely_ seen the message. Oh, and for the record, it's considered common curtesy to get off Tinder for two seconds to acknowledge a real human being in front of you."   
  
_‘Oh, Burn,’_ Hanayo thought as the customer’s face went bright red. He then mumbled a thank you to both of them, and scampered out of the store.  
  
“N-Nozomi senpai,” Hanayo’s tiny voice made the older girl turn around. She smiled and exited the preorder screen, stepping aside slightly and turning her body to invite her young coworker to step forward and observe.  
  
“Hanayo, to check a customer’s records, you just need to hit F11. It’s the same button in and out of a transaction screen, okay?”  
  
“Okay..”  
  
“Also, no one has a right to be a dickowaffle to employees.”  
  
“Swear!”  
  
“Like _you_ can talk! You were out the back this whole time and didn’t even help Hanayo!” Nozomi shouted at the door, her twin tails were sticking up.  
  
Hanayo entered a transaction, and pressed F11.  
  
Sure enough, there was the screen for customer records.  
  
_‘So it’s all here,’_ Hanayo typed in her own last name, and saw the empty profile.  
  
“Yep, that’s right,” Nozomi looked over shoulder and grinned. Hanayo couldn’t help but notice her heart flutter with Nozomi standing so close to her. She felt something rub against her arm, and looked down to see it was Nozomi’s own arm.  
  
_“She has really nice skin,”_ Hanayo thought as Nozomi exited the screen and typed in a last name.  
  
The brunette had to tear her eyes away from the delicate lines of a gardenia tattooed above Nozomi’s elbow to give the appearance of having paid close attention.  
  
“These are my preorders,” she said with a grin. Hanayo had never seen so many game titles in her life.  
  
“Although, half of this crap is for my housemate.”  
  
“I didn’t even know you _could_ pre order this much stuff.” Hanayo gaped, scrolling down the list.

“Well, first there’s no limit, and second, you haven’t met my flatmate,” Nozomi snorted. She pointed at one item in particular.  
  
“FIFA17, NBA17, WWE17, NHL17, half of these don’t even have release dates, yet she throws her uni lunch money at it like a stripper on a Friday night at 4am.”  
  
Hanayo lets out a choked snort-squeak, half a laugh and half embarrassment.  
  
Nozomi blushed, _‘this girl is trying to kill me,’_ she thought, tucking a hair behind her pierced ear.

 

* * *

 

“Hanayo-chan! How was your first day at work?” Honoka practically tackled the poor, exhausted girl to the ground the second she walked into the apartment.  
  
“Honoka-chan, give Hanayo-chan some space,” Kotori poked her head in, dressed in an apron and her hair tied back.  
  
“H-Hello Honoka-senpai, Kotori-senpai,’ Hanayo greeted, practically looking through her roommates.

“Hanayo-chan?” Kotori questioned, fully stepping into the hallway with a worried look at Hanayo’s glazed eyes.

“I work with an angel,” the brunette breathed.  
  
Kotori giggled, rolling her eyes and stepping back into the kitchen while Honoka looked between them, confused.  
  
“An angel?”  
  
“Sh-she’s really nice,” Hanayo’s voice was airy, as if there was nothing left in her lungs.  
  
“I’m glad your manager is nice!”  
  
“Sh-she’s not my manager,”  
  
“Really?”  
  
“She’s second-in-charge,”  
  
“Just tell me what she’s like, dammit!” Honoka shook the younger girl’s shoulders. Hanayo stood up dragged Honoka to her room.  
  
It was fun living with with Honoka and Kotori. They were both so smiley and kind, and treated Hanayo as if she were their daughter. Every Friday night, they would eat the cheesecake Kotori would make and watch some crappy romcom Honoka would rent out for them.  
  
All three of them attended the same university, so they’d commute together, have lunch together, and help each other study (and by that, it would be Kotori and Hanayo tutoring Honoka to make sure she didn’t fail.) Kotori was currently in her second year of studying fashion design, and Honoka was studying education, wanting to be a high school home economics teacher.

* * *

  
  
Hanayo never forgot the day she received the letter in the mail, saying she was accepted into the university to study graphic design. It was, after-all, her passion.  
  
Her room was evident of this: simple with light blue walls and white furniture, clean and mostly orderly with everything arranged in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible.  
  
The only two messy spots in her room were her desk, covered in papers, writing utensils and bottles of cola from late-night MMO sessions, and the shelves around her TV, which were absolutely spilling over with merchandise from her favourite games, animes and idols. Posters for Ripishika and Pile were reverently hung from the wall, while the A-Rise poster was signed and, therefore, framed. Hanayo had to keep it safe; she knew she would never work up the courage to go to a signing event again.

“Honoka-chan, my work senpais are amazing, especially Nozomi-senpai,” Hanayo was currently pacing the room, hands behind her back, while Honoka sat on the girl’s bed.  
  
“She looks really scary, but is also really nice and smart and kinda cute an-”  
  
“Hanayo-chan, did you just say your senpai was cute?”

“E-Eh?! No! Not at all!” Hanayo awkwardly fidgeted with the hem of her white shirt, averting the red-head’s blue eyes.  
  
Honoka smirked and leaned forward, her lime green shirt covering her knees in the process.  
  
“It’s natural for everyone to find their senpais attractive, Hanayo-chan, I can only _imagine_ what it’s like working with one, but there’s no need to hide it from Honoka-senpai or Kotori-senpai,”  
  
“H-Honoka-chan, with all due respect, you are nothing like a senpai,” Hanayo’s tiny voice shot through Honoka’s heart like a bazooka.  
  
“Ouch, Hanayo-chan…”

 

* * *

 

Across town, Nozomi walked right past her roommates in the living room and straight up the stairs. She was hellbent, jumping two at a time to get to the second floor of the flat.  
"Nozomi-ch-"  
The tattooed employee slammed her door shut, blocking out Rin and Umi completely. Like most people, Nozomi had times where she just needed to be left alone in her private domain, better known a her bedroom.  
  
Nozomi’s room was nothing spacious or fancy: it consisted of one bed that had some stupid purple bedsheets and a dog plushie on top. The plushie’s name was Chip, and no one was to touch it apart from Nozomi. There was one window, and the room’s walls were grey (she had a heated argument with Rin and Umi, who kept saying it was an off white,) but her carpet was black, along with her desk, and a few bookshelves. On the walls were posters of her favourite bands: _Blink 182_ , _Arctic Monkeys_ , _The Strokes_ , _Paramore,_ _No Doubt,_ _Pixies, FIDLAR_  and many more bands that she could get high too. Despite what she looked like, Nozomi's room was always immaculate: The floor was vacuumed every Saturday, the books and video games in her shelves were alphabetical without a single spec of dust to be seen, and her desk looked like something that belong on an aesthetic  _tumblr_ blog.  
Her desk had three monitors, each with a greyscale background that spread across them, and a couple of photos and figurines were placed neatly near the speakers. Opposite her mouse was a dragon ashtray.  
  
Nozomi tossed her bag into her chair and leaned against the windowsill, sighing heavily.  
  
_‘Why are customers so fucking stupid,’_ she thought, blinking a few times before stretching out her back. She turned to face the desk, smiling at her pc setup.  
  
_‘Perhaps I_ could _play some_ Witcher _tonight,”_ Nozomi took off her shirt, revealing the same black bra from yesterday, and threw on a dark blue t-shirt. She preferred to shower in the morning, anyway.

-  
  
Cut to 5am, and Nozomi’s eyes were twitching violently. No one had come up to check on her, she hadn’t eaten since she came home, and now her whole room stunk of cigarettes.  
  
All Nozomi could was let out a little insane giggle and ruffle the back of her head. But she was _so_ close to finishing this quest, and she’d be damn if she didn’t get the reward.  
  
_“Weapon first, food later,”_ she thought with another psychotic giggle, then went back to playing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since we're too lazy to create OCs for this work, we roped the Seiyuus in. #Soznotsoz

“Holy shit, Non-tan, you look _awful_ ,” Aina smiled at her workmate as she got sight of her outside the shopping centre.  
  
Her hair was in the laziest side braid Aina had ever seen, and her face was rather gaunt. Her eye liner was still on point, but the bags under her eyes were rather evident. Not to mention the girl was shivering in her leather jacket, hands stuffed in pockets and chewing on her morning cigarette.  
  
“G-Geralt made me do it,” was the weak, shaky response.  
  
“Well aren’t you lucky it’s just 9 till 2 today,” Aina passed Nozomi and entered the shopping centre, adjusting her coat as she did so.  
  
“You mean you’re gonna leave the back room today for once?” Nozomi called after her.  
  
_‘That’s a fucking miracle,’_ she thought.

 

* * *

 

  
“Mimorin, _please_ stop trying on all the hats!”  
  
A receipt was shoved into Nozomi’s face. Green eyes blinked, taking in the tiny blurry digits on the thin piece of paper.  
  
“It’s mine, Nozomi, _all mine!!_ ” The co-worker drawled out in a face evil voice, then let loose a cracker of an evil laugh, hands clawed in a way that resembled a gargoyle. Nozomi sighed and crumpled up the receipt, hoping to crush Mimorin’s awful impression at the same time.  
  
“You will be the death of me,” She mumbled.  
  
Aina had been called away to do a stocktake at a nearby store,  and had called in backup for Nozomi until Hanayo came in: Mimorin.  
  
Since the managers were all about helping each other out the monstrous task. It was as if satan himself had personally defecated out the idea of doing a stocktake.  
  
All those precious white stickers wasted on useless crap perched on two-ways that no one would ever buy. Nozomi and Mimorin, the _other_ key-holder, were currently in the midst of stickering said useless crap.  
  
The tattooed employee eyed the third-party PS3 controller that had been dangling on the hook for the past two years untouched.  
  
_‘No one will ever buy you,’_ Nozomi scowled in thought, sticking a barcode onto the item and straightening up.  
  
“Can you _please_ just do your job?”  
  
“I _am!_ I’m stickering the hats!”

“Stop putting each hat on your head! You’re breaking the OHS regulations!!” Nozomi snapped and rubbed her temples.  
  
_‘One more hour, one more hour, then you can skip on home,’_ she mentally reminded herself while scanning the barcodes of more accessories that will never leave the store.  
  
“I think I’ll buy this one, too!”  
  
Nozomi’s eye twitched as Mimorin placed a top hat on her head.  
  
“It suits me, don’t you think?”  
  
“Mimorin,” Nozomi’s voice became flatter than the pancakes Umi had nearly burnt for her that morning.  
  
“If one more hat comes in contact to a single strand of your hair, I will get up from my comfortable position on this freshly vacuumed floor, take that piece of crap, and shove it right up your-”  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
Nozomi froze at the audible noises of a customer’s voice. She instantly whirled around and plastered on her synthetic retail smile.  
  
“Hello! How may I help you?”  
  
“Can I buy this?”  
  
“Of course you can, let’s go,” she lead the customer over to the counter and opened up a transaction.  
  
The customer had a copy of _FIFA 16_ in their hand, and also pointed to the yellow box, advertising the pre-owned PS4 for a much cheaper price than that of the squeaky clean, brand-spanking new consoles.  
  
“I wanted to get the pre-owned PS4, too,” the customer said in a nasally tone.

Ah, the pre-owned world. Pre-owned products is what kept _EZ Games_ afloat. Without pre-owned, the company would be like _Blockbuster:_ Dead and gone.   
Nozomi was taught that pre-owned was _always_ the go to. It’s cheaper, and gets the customer more points, and it also made her KPI’s sky rocket through the roof. Yet, there were some downfalls with the pre-owned merchandise: First, it was pre-owned; used, preloved, second hand - and the chances of the item being defective were much higher than that of new, squeaky clean, never-been-touched-before merchandise.  
  
Second, much like a dead kangaroo Nozomi had had hit with her car, she had no idea where it had been. Who was it’s mother and father? Was it treated well? Where had it defecated? Why was it so stupid to be in the middle of the road at 1am? The amount of times Nozomi (and the other staff) had touched a pre-owned game that looked nothing _like_ a game in the first place was beyond them.  
  
Not to mention preowned consoles had the higher risk of being defective. If Nozomi had a dollar for every time someone had bought a pre-owned console, and the next day the person returned it, she wouldn’t need to work this dead-end job, because she’d be rich enough to afford her own fucking island to live out the rest of her days.  
  
The twin-tailed girl smiled apologetically, “Unfortunately, sir, I just sold my last pre-owned console earlier in the day. However, I can check to see if our warehouse has one, and I can order it in to either the store, or get it shipped directly to your doorstep!”  
  
“But, I want it now.”  
  
Nozomi’s ears picked up a tiny ‘oh shit’ from Mimorin in the corner, who had _finally_ stopped playing with the hats. The employee behind the counter steeled herself, and her smile grew to her ears. Mimorin was sure that if she had a soundboard, she’d add a creaking door.  
  
“Unfortunately, sir, this is retail, not a fairytale. If you wanted a pre-owned PS4, you’d have to wait until we get some more in, go to another store, or get one shipped to you.”  
  
“W-Well, I’ll just get that deal then,”  the customer pointed to the poster behind him, and Nozomi’s smile fell slightly.  
  
“No worries, would you like a black or white console?”  
  
“Black, please,”  
  
_‘Ay, a magic word!’_ Nozomi thought, smiling and asking the customer to wait a minute while she got out his console. She turned and headed to the backroom, catching Mimorin giving her a thumbs up and wicked grin.  
  
“Just sticker the hats,” The venom in Nozomi’s voice contrasted the smile on her face, earning a cackle from her co-worker.

* * *

 

Nozomi pushed open the stock room door and practically collided with her newest coworker, who made a frightened squeak and gave an awkward apology before turning her face back to the list in her hands, glaring at it intensely.  
  
Nozomi watched for a few moments as the brunette looked between the list and the wall of consoles a few times, adding checks next to different lines of text as she goes.

“Hanayo,” Nozomi interjected, leaning over the shorter girl’s shoulder and pointing to the line on her sheet indicating 500gb XBO’s;  
  
“It’s easier to just pick a line and find every item of that type, than it is to check each item off the list one by one. See, it says we have 7 of those; find those 7 and then move on to the 1TBs.” She tilted her head and smiled, hair gliding off her shoulder to fall behind her back.

Hanayo turned to face her, beaming brightly.  
  
“Thank you, Nozomi-senpai!” Her smile fell quickly, eyes blinking owlishly.  
  
“Is everything alright? You seem agitated.”

“Hmm?” Nozomi gave an awkward laugh, waving off the idea.  
  
“No, everything’s great, splendid! Just getting a console for a customer, don’t mind me!”

She quickly skirted around the gently smiling brunette, grabbing the handle for the console box she wanted and hefting it out of the stockroom quickly.

Hanayo smiled, gripping her list to her chest. “My reliable senpai!”

It was in this moment that Nozomi’s kokoro doki’d.  
  
-  
  
Nozomi exited the backroom, PS4 in her possession and a blush evident on her face. She kept her eyes on the floor, but, as usual, caught her co-worker’s stupid facial expressions from the loot section.  
  
“Is there something wrong?” Nozomi raised and eyebrow, and Mimorin just smiled wider.  
  
“Don’t you dare-” Nozomi glowered, but too late.  
  
Mimorin had winked.  
  
“Oh _come on!”_ The tattooed employee hissed, and Mimorin just let out another laugh.  
  
Nozomi stormed off to the counter, plastered her retail face on and continued the transaction.  
  


* * *

 

  
Hanayo stuck her head out of the backroom, eyes wide and lip trembling.  
  
“S-Suzuko-senpai,” She whimpered quietly, and Mimorin whirled around. How long had it been since someone actually used her real name? The one on her birth certificate?  
  
The worker put down the hats and trotted into the backroom, her long brown hair bouncing behind her.  
  
“Everything alright, Hanayo-chan?” Mimorin smiled brightly at the young employee. Hanayo’s hands trembled, making the clipboard rattle.  
  
“W-W-We’re missing a 2DS,”  
  
Mimorin blinked down at the list in Hanayo’s hands, then back at the hand-held section of their backroom.  
  
“Hmmm,” Mimorin herself counted the consoles, and glanced down at the paper again.  
  
Hanayo watched, worried if the employee would snap at her, but Mimorin didn’t really seem the type. When they first met that morning, the girl hugged her so tightly, Hanayo could’ve sworn that she broke her spine. Mimorin even brought her back a drink from the vending machine.  
  
“Hanayo-chan,”  
  
“Y-Yes?!”  
  
“Have you checked the hold draw?”  
  
Hanayo blinked, “The hold draw?”  
  
“Oh my, Nozomi didn’t tell you about the hold draw?” Mimorin cracked a wicked grin, and took Hanayo’s hand, dragging her out of the backroom.  
  
“W-Wait!” Hanayo squeaked out, but Mimorin had already arrived at the counter.  
  
“Toujou Nozomi!” She snapped, making the other employees jump.  
  
“What the hell, Mimorin?!” Nozomi clutched at her heart in an attempt to slow it down, annoyance etched onto her face.  
  
“You were supposed to take Hanayo-chan under your noodle of a wing, to show her the ropes, to guide her in her quest to be a Jedi!”  
  
“What are you going on about?!” Nozomi frowned, but Mimorin raised a hand.  
  
“Ah ah ah! I don’t want to even _hear_ the sound of your sinful voice!” She interrupted, then stuffed her keys into the middle draw behind the counter, and yanked it open.  
  
“You didn’t tell Hanayo-chan about the hold draw!”  
  
Nozomi froze, looking from the ‘sacred’ draw, to Mimorin’s glower, then back to Hanayo’s terrified expression. She shut her eyes and sighed.  
  
“Hanayo, that’s the hold draw,” she pointed to the draw.  
  
Hanayo peered into this very important and mystical draw, like a child looking through the window to a candy store.  
  
Sure enough, inside the draw, was the missing 2DS.  
  
“You can tick that off your count, Hanayo-chan,” Mimorin smiled at the nervous girl, still clinging to her arm.  
  
“You can also punish Nozomi for being a complete and utter ditz.”  
  
“It was one thing!”  
  
“You can punish her however you like!”  
  
“Can my punishment be leaving ten minutes early before my clock-off time?”  
  
“Absolutely not.”  
  
“Dammit,” Nozomi folded her arms and rolled her eyes.  
  
Hanayo eyed the scowl on the older employee’s face, she looked like all she wanted to do was leave.  
  
“Hanayo-chan, are you disappointed in Nozoomzoom?”

“Why the nicknames?!”  
  
Hanayo’s eyes flickered from Nozomi to Mimorin, the pressure of not wanting to disappoint her seniors was getting to her.  
  
“I-I’m…”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“Yes, Hanayo-chan! Get angry!” Mimorin urged her on, eyes twinkling.  
  
“I-I’m _very disappointed in you, Nozomi-senpai!”  
_ _  
_ It went silent for a bit, save the store soundtrack thumping out a tune Hanayo recognized as a song from the radio that was overplayed.  
  
Nozomi’s mouth fell open, and her eyebrows drooped. She looked truly distraught, like a puppy being scolded for urinating inside. The older employee’s eyes went rather wide as Mimorin let out a cackle of laughter for the umpteenth time that day.  
  
“Hah! You should see the look on your face! It’s almost as if you really _are_ sad to be a disappointment to Ha- HEY!”  
  
Nozomi’s face snapped into a scowl, and a blush flamed onto her cheeks. She reached for the nearest item, the tiny ball of old barcodes she was in the midst of making into her one last slither of sanity for working for this god-forsaken company, and threw it at Mimorin.  
  
It missed, and Hanayo couldn’t help but smile.  
  
“Y-Your aim is really bad, Nozomi-senpai,”  
  
“Geez, Hanayo-chan, do you _want_ to kick Nozoomzoom’s heart into the dust some more?” Mimorin was practically holding back tears as the second-in-command looked like someone had just smashed her PC.  
  
“L-Look at the time, it’s 2pm!” Nozomi awkwardly fumbled with the keyboard and clocked herself out.  
  
She practically scampered to the backroom to grab her things, and Mimorin finally keeled over herself, laughing hysterically.  
  
“She’s such a loser, I swear!” Mimorin’s howls of laughter only somewhat reached Hanayo, who was gazing at the back door, which was shut, with worry.  
  
“D-Did I go too far with Nozomi-senpai?” She asked Mimorin in a small voice. Mimorin picked up the scanner and let out one more bark of laughter.  
  
“Not in the slightest, Hanayo-chan. If anything, you didn’t go far _enough_ !”  
  


* * *

 

 _To Maki: 2:03pm  
_ _Sneaky smoke. Now_

The off-the-clock employee waited outside the shopping centre, arms folded and cigarette in mouth. Her face was still warm from blushing at Hanayo’s words, even though she _knew_ Mimorin was shitting with her.  
  
So why did it sting when Hanayo said she was disappointed in her?

Two minutes later, her phone buzzed. Nozomi pulled out the device, staring at the blurred screen with bold text

 _Maki: 2:05pm  
_ _WTF?! Fine im on my way. This better be good_

  
Sure enough, the automatic glass doors opened, and out stepped Maki. Her red hair was currently tied in a low ponytail and draped over her left shoulder. Both women just stared at each other, blinking dumbly.  
  
“...Was there a memo about side ponytails or somethin’?” Maki asked while Nozomi let out a groan.  
  
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” she slumped against the wall and stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets again. Maki sighed and pulled out her trusty eyeliner again.  
  
“I swear to God if you can _not_ take care of your fucking eyeliner-”  
  
She forcefully put a hand on the top of Nozomi’s head and brought the eyeliner to her face. Nozomi scowled, but let her friend touch her up.  
  
“Yeah yeah, whatever, scold me, beat me, whip me,”  
  
“I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing,” Maki smirked as she repaired the smudged wings. How was it that Nozomi spent _hours_ on her makeup, yet didn’t care for it to smudge?  
  
“Trust me, I’m not,” Nozomi’s lifeless mumble was concerning her friend. When Maki finished her touch ups, she took out a cigarette herself.  
  
“Why is it that whenever anyone gives me grief, I just don’t react, but when this new kid says I’m a disappointment, I feel like i’ve just been shot?”  
  
Maki froze, lighter nearly touching the end of her cancer stick.  
  
“Uhm, what?”  
  
“She called me a disappointment and my heart fell to my ass,”  
  
“Oh, Uhm,” Maki looked up in thought. She wasn’t really sure how to answer that.  
  
“Do you...I don’t know... _like_ her at all?”  
  
Nozomi’s scowl morphed into a frown, and her eyes narrowed.  
  
“It’s a bit soon for me to get a girlfriend, don’t you think?”  
  
“H-Hey! I didn’t say that!” Maki retorted, twirling at her ponytail.  
  
“I-I don’t even know,” she muttered and turned her gaze to the ground.  
  
Nozomi stomped out her cigarette and adjusted her bag on her shoulder.  
  
“Whatever, I’m going home,” Nozomi slouched off down the road to the car, head hung.  
  
“So you called me out here for nothing?!” Maki loudly called after Nozomi, who just waved lazily.  
  
The makeup artist stared after her, still awkwardly twiddling at her hair.


	4. Chapter 4

Maki still had some time to kill on her lunch break, and she figured rather than killing her lungs, she could go inside and investigate the mysterious new person working at Nozomi’s store. The redhead stood out the front, staring up at the bright orange and white letters that spelt out the company’s name, and then down at her feet. She wore simple ballet flats, as they were comfortable enough and appropriate for work. Her black button up shirt and matching black skirt were rather dull compared to the blue, white and orange colour scheme of the store. Maki’s makeup apron was also black, but her name was embroidered in red in the top right corner, along with _Bibi_ on the opposite diagonal corner.  
  
“Well, better investigate,” she sighed, and took a step into the game store.  
  
“Ah! Maki-chan! Hello!” Mimorin looked up from the counter and smiled brightly. She wore some stupid yellow hat with pointed ears, with black markings on the end.  
  
Maki would only come into the store when she needed to bitch to Nozomi about something or rather, so it was kind of awkward for her to be in here with the reason being her strange friend...Well, it _sort_ of did, but whatever.  
  
“Hey, Mimorin,” Maki greeted in an aloof tone, looking around the store. It was covered in little alpaca stickers, but the ceiling banners were still the same.  
  
“What’s up with the hat?”  
  
“It’s called _fashion_ , Maki-chan. Surely a makeup artist would know that,” Mimorin smiled, getting a scowl from the younger girl.  
  
“Uhm, is there, like, a new employee?” Maki’s voice wavered at the end, she was nervous talking to Mimorin, even though the idiot wouldn’t hurt a fly.  
  
“Ah, you mean Hanayo-chan?” Mimorin’s voice dropped an octave and she leaned over the counter, elbows pushing into breasts. Maki blushed, eye twitching.  
  
“She’s out the back, but what does an awkward tomato such as yourself want with my darling little Hanayo-chan?”  
  
“I-I just wanted to say hi,” Maki ignored the name she was called and averted her eyes, staring at the glass case behind the counter. Inside were an array of controllers, _Pokemon_ cards and console accessories.  
  
“I thought I’d introduce myself to the one person who seems to reduce Nozomi to the state of a moody schoolgirl going through puberty,”  
  
Mimorin’s eyes twinkled, then she let out a cackle of laughter and threw her head back. The stupid yellow hat stayed on, but the ears flopped with each hitch of laughter that came from the employee  
  
“Oh Nozoomzoom, you toadstool! Lemme go grab the star of the show,” Mimorin straightened up, wiping the tears from her eyes. She then skipped to the backroom and opened the door.  
  
“Hanayo-chan, could you come out here for a minute please?”  
  
Some pattering of footsteps later, and Maki was met with a girl who looked about the same age as her. Her thick-framed glasses, brown hair with pink scattered through, violet eyes and chubby cheeks made her look incredibly childish and-  
  
_‘Cute,’_ Maki thought, feeling her cheeks warm up instantly.  
  
“Hanayo-chan, this is Maki-chan,” Mimorin introduced them, clapping a hand on the employee’s shoulder.  
  
“Maki-chan is an expert makeup artist, so if you ever want to look like a teenager from the 2000’s, then she’s your girl.”  
  
“H-Hey!” Maki scowled and folded her arms. How was it that this harmless, tiny nerd could lower Nozomi’s IQ by at least ninety points?!  
  
“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted,” Mimorin gave her signature wink, then gently nudged Hanayo towards Maki and shut the backroom door.  
  
There was an awkward silence, only the sound of that ever annoying DVD was playing. Maki was in subtle disbelief that this...this _child_ seemed to be Nozomi’s weakness.  
  
“So…” She awkward started, ignoring the annoying voiceover from the DVD. The makeup artist was _now_ starting to realize why Nozomi took so many smoke breaks.  
  
“You’re new here?”  
  
_‘Wow,_ nice one _Maki!’_ The voice in her head snorted. Hanayo nodded, awkwardly fondling with the belt loop in her pants.  
  
“Yes, I only started a week ago.”  
  
“Wow, you’re _really_ fresh meat,” Maki spoke without thinking, and let out a groan at herself. Hanayo continued to shift her eyes back and forth, as if Maki was medusa or something.  
  
“A-Anyway, I’m Maki. I work at the cosmetics store downstairs. I-If you ever need a touch up, just let me know…” Her voice trailed off into nothing upon realising how stupid she must sound.  
  
“Thanks,” Hanayo’s voice was tiny; it reminded Maki of a baby mouse. Except, Hanayo wasn’t hairless or blind - wait, she wears glasses: she _could_ be a baby mouse…  
  
“Are you a full-timer?”  
  
“N-No, I study full-time at university.”  
  
“That’s cool, what do you study?”  
  
“Graphic design. How about you?”  
  
“I study medicine part-time, so I work three days a week, then go to uni for two.”  
  
“That’s cool,” The small talk was trailing off into nothing, and Hanayo adjusted her glasses awkwardly.  
  
Maki took note of the girl’s makeup. Working at the makeup store for over a year gave Maki the incredible skill to break down someone’s makeup and how they applied it in only a few seconds: Hanayo wore a fair bit of mascara, so her eyelashes really stood out behind her lenses. Her strokes seemed neat and careful, judging by the lack of smudging. Maki also noted that Hanayo was wearing glittery eyeshadow, and it was magnified by her frames again.  
  
_‘That’s...actually adorable,’_ Maki thought while reaching into her makeup apron.  
  
“Here,” she pulled out a small circular jar with some bright green substance inside.  
  
“We got free samples of this eyeshadow, and it’s a bit too bright for my taste, so you can have it,” Maki handed over the eyeshadow as her voice dissolved into nothingness again.  
  
Hanayo’s eyes lit up as she took the eyeshadow.  
  
“Th-Thank you so much, Maki-chan!”  
  
The redhead twitched at the honorific, the two hadn’t even known each other for five minutes! Hanayo was _already_ using the honorific?  
  
“I-It’s nothin’...” Maki mumbled, then cleared her throat.  
  
“Anyway, I better head back to work. It was nice to meet you, Hanayo,”  
  
“You too, Maki-chan. Thanks again for the eyeshadow,” Hanayo bowed deeply, and her glasses nearly slid off her face. Maki just nodded, and turned on her heel to leave the store.  
  
She didn’t, however, rationalise the gap between the dump bin full of cheap preowned games and the entranceway. With a loud _‘BANG,’_ Maki’s knee collided with the metal dump-bin.  
  
“OW!” Maki clutched at her left knee, hopping around on her right leg to try and recover her balance, but did an awful job. Gravity decided to mess with her as she fell back on the ground.  
  
“Ow, ow, ow,” She groaned, eyes shut and watering from the pain. There was a noise from Hanayo, and the girl dashed forward to help Maki up.  
  
“Oh my! Are you okay?” Hanayo extended her hand, and the redhead took it, hoisting herself up.  
  
“Y-yeah, I’ll need to fix _my_ eyeliner for once,” Maki mumbled, whipping out her trusty eyeliner while she stumbled out of the store.

_‘So, Hanayo, the glasses-wearing, glittery-eyeshadow graphic design student can make Nozomi act like an idiot.”_

* * *

 

It’s almost comical, Nozomi can’t help but think. Hanayo had brought a notebook into work today, and had spent every spare minute of her shift dutifully writing down everything she can think of. Nozomi knew for sure the first few pages are filled with a table showing what each key corresponds to in the store system, since Hanayo asked her to check it with the most adorably red face, but the rest was a mystery to her.  
  
Occasionally Hanayo would pipe up with a quiet question, and write frantically when Nozomi answered.

“Nozomi-senpai, how do you check layby’s again?”

“Nozomi-senpai, what about when someone wants to preorder something?”

“How do I print off the lists for the daily counts, Nozomi-senpai?”

Nozomi had never really fallen into the role of senpai before. Not in high school, where she was really supposed to, and not even during her time at university, where there was far more stress for both her and her underclassmen. Teaching Hanayo the ropes around the store was the first time Nozomi had ever really felt like a Senpai; feeling pride whenever Hanayo got something right, knowing that she helped to have a part in it.

The blinding smile on Hanayo’s face whenever she said ‘thank you, Nozomi-Senpai!’ Certainly didn’t hurt either.

* * *

The night before her first shift, Hanayo had lain awake for hours working herself up over every little thing that could possibly go wrong. All the mistakes she might make, how her co-workers might hate her, how they might decide they had made a mistake and fire her before she even began. Three shifts later and Hanayo could safely say that not only had none of those terrible things happened, but a few things she hadn’t expected had too. The standout example being Nozomi-Senpai.

Nozomi was so utterly different to anyone Hanayo had interacted with before. She was self-assured and confident in everything she did, but had a surprisingly soft voice. She took her time with most customers, but was willing to speak up to defend herself where the situation called. She was kind, but also brash and mildly disobedient. Nozomi pulled and pried at the rules until they fit her. Even when she was silent, there was a feeling of control about her.

And the silences, those were another surprise. Hanayo had been worried about making 6 hours worth of small talk every shift, but quickly found that her and Nozomi were more than capable of working in a companionable silence when they needed. It was surprising how easily she had started to recognise when she should try to start a conversation and when it would be better to just work quietly. Reading people had never been as easy for her as it was with her new co-worker.

Of course, Nozomi was not her only co-worker.  
  
For her first few shifts, Hanayo had worked with Suzuko-senpai, who was normally just called ‘Mimorin,’ for some reason. She was extremely funny, and seemed to love going shopping on her breaks, therefore blowing all of her hard-earned pay almost instantly. When Nozomi went on her lunch breaks, and Aina was too busy with the paperwork, Hanayo would ask Mimorin for help. The two had a lot of fun with stock boxes, gushing over the cute, questionable and downright weird items that they would receive. Mimorin would often cop the cane from Nozomi when they were caught trying on the stupid hats, seeing as the older employee could never seem to get angry at the Hanayo.  
  
When Hanayo would fill in for Mimorin on Tuesdays, she would often see Aina (Who was often called ‘Kussun,’ for some weird reason _again_ ,) sitting in the backroom at the extra POS with a book in front of her. The manager had explained that she did all the tricky back office stuff here, so she was rarely able to work on the floor.  
  
“There’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes with this company,” Kussun explained with a smile, pointing at the stack of papers in front of her with a _Pokemon_ pencil.  
  
“These are our SSRs, which go back to head office,” the manager then moved to let the computer screen be more visible.  
  
“The company sends out mass emails, and then I filter through them for our state and send them off to our nearby store. I also do the weekly reports every Saturday.”  
  
Kussun then pointed to the book and let out a tiny chuckle.  
  
“And this is the monthly planner. Inside here is where we document and plan out each month.”  
  
Hanayo soon figured out that it was going to be very unlikely that Kussun would _actually_ serve a customer. According to her adoptive big sister Mimorin, Kussun only served like three people once a month. However, those transactions were the best: people bought lots of things, pre ordered things and asked for the disk protection. Kussun was a master at spotting which customers would drop the most cash and milking them for all they had. Minimal effort, maximum profit.  
  
“Most of this you won’t have to worry about, since I have it covered, but it’s good to know all the basics in case you ever need to do any of this stuff,” Aina said warmly, offering her youngest employee the seat next to her, the brunette taking it gladly.

“Let’s start with what you’re most likely to need to know, huh?” Hanayo dutifully opened her notebook, flipped to a clean new page and prepared herself for notes, pointedly not noticing the wry smile the manager sent her way.

Back office work, Hanayo found, was a whole lot of pressing specific buttons in a specific order, checking and double checking, and making sure everything added up. It was by no means the most entertaining job in the world, but she found something relaxing in being able to just sit quietly and not have to worry about the numbers jumping out of the screen and insisting to speak to her manager.  
  
Kussun was a good teacher, too; she seemed to know exactly the best way to explain things, and was slow and methodical enough to give Hanayo enough time to write out exactly what needed to be done for each task. After about an hour, Hanayo was sure they had covered everything there was to cover, and dutifully allowed Kussun to go over her notebook, making corrections where needed and adding extra notes and smiley faces of her own.

“Don’t worry too much, the first few times you do each of these tasks either Nozomi, Mimorin or I will be with you,” Aina grinned, drawing a terrible approximation of the store’s alpaca logo above her section on alpha counts.  
  
“We’ll make sure you have it down pat before we throw you to the sharks.” Even with the growing pit in her stomach at the knowledge she would soon be taking shifts alone, Hanayo couldn’t help but smile back at her manager.

_‘I guess Kussun can be a reliable Senpai too, in her own way.’_

* * *

 

The first thing Hanayo was taught on her third shift was how to answer the phone.  
  
Of course, she couldn’t answer the phone as she would with her own mobile, there had to be a tagline.  
  
The most common one for the company was “Trade and save at EZ Games! This is ___,” But after a while, Hanayo noticed that everyone would change the tagline to suit whatever was happening.  
  
The first person to do this was Mimorin, who always put on a very chipper, high pitched saleswoman voice whenever she answered the phone.  
  
Hanayo couldn’t help but squeak out laughter when Mimorin skipped over to the ringing phone and answered with, “Earth is under attack! You better preorder _Mirror’s Edge_ from EZ Games! This is Commander Suzuko speaking!”  
  
Instantly, though, the person on the other end of the phone hung up, and Mimorin’s face fell. She looked like a small, sad dog.  
  
Kussun and Nozomi, Hanayo noticed, had the laziest and unoriginal phone taglines ever. Normally, the store phone would be on the counter, but on occasion, it sat with Kussun in the back room.  
  
Hanayo sometimes heard the phone ring when she was out there, in which Kussun would answer with “EZ Games Akiba, Aina speaking,” in a soft, monotone voice. She would be rather helpful, but give short answers and try to get off the phone as soon as possible.  
  
Nozomi did this too, but she always sounded much more lively than Kussun did. She used the generic tagline of “Trade and save,” and her answers were helpful but short too.  
  
However, Nozomi moved around a lot when she answered the phone. She would twirl at her hair, fiddle with her piercings, and often take a walk around the store. She reminded Hanayo of some action movie hero receiving a spy assignment.  
  
So when it came time for Hanayo to answer the phone, she tried her best to sound confident and clear, but her first time answering the phone sounded like a small a small lamb learning how to cry out for it’s mother.  
  
“T-T-T-Trade and se-save at EZ Games Akiba, this is- uh- H-Hanayo,”  
  
The stifling giggles of Mimorin made Hanayo turn bright red. She instantly handed over the phone to her elder co worker, and slowly retracted into herself.

However, Hanayo learnt how to answer the phone. She used the traditional tagline, but still had to raise her voice so that the person on the other end of the phone could hear her.  
  
Hanayo also learnt that a lot of people would ask for the manager of the store, and Hanayo would just hand the phone over to Nozomi. Normally, the tattooed employee wouldn’t mind handling a phone call for Hanayo, but there was only so many times Nozomi could put on her manager pants.  
  
“I”m _not_ the manager, but whatever,” Nozomi grumbled as she hung up the phone with a slight scowl. Hanayo quizzically looked at Nozomi, who returned to her alphabetizing of the preowned PS3 wall.  
  
One day, The phone rang. No one else was on the floor except for Hanayo, as Nozomi was in the backroom doing a daily count. Hanayo took a deep breath, and picked up the small grey phone.  
  
“Trade and save at EZ Games Akiba, this is Hanayo,”  
  
“Hello, is the manager here?”  
  
Hanayo’s heart sank, She had a very vivid memory of Nozomi’s scowl every time someone called her the manager.  
  
_Every. Time._ It was like clockwork.  
  
The door to the backroom, and out stepped the woman of Hanayo’s current thoughts. Nozomi had a box of defective consoles that she was getting ready to send back to head office for repair. Out of the corner of her emerald eye, Nozomi caught Hanayo’s worried expression, and raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Everything okay?” She asked, and Hanayo nodded, pointing a shaking hand to the phone.  
  
“S-S-Someone wants to speak to the manager, and Kussun is on her lunch break so-”  
  
There it was. There was the scowl. The eyeliner, that was meant to accentuate Nozomi’s mesmerising green eyes suddenly made them incredibly dull.  
  
“Pass it over,” her lifeless voice matched her expression as she extended her hand. Hanayo squeaked, then handed over the phone instantly.  
  
“Nozomi speaking,”  
  
Hanayo watched on, now fiddling her fingers as Nozomi rolled her eyes.  
  
“I am not the manager, miss.”  
  
For some strange reason, Hanayo quirked a grin. Although she couldn’t hear the other end of the phone, there was some tiny increase in volume.  
  
“I _may_ be here full time, but I do not manage the st-”  
  
The voice on the phone was _definitely_ rising in pitch. Hanayo found it hard to stifle the giggles, since Nozomi’s scowl became much more prominent. Hanayo was able to make out tiny bits and and piece of what was happening on the other end of the phone;  
  
_‘I want to speak to a manager! Where is the person in charge?!’  
_  
“Miss, I _am_ the one in charge,”  
  
_‘But you just said you weren’t the manager!’  
_  
“Whenever the manager is not here, I am the acting manager.’  
  
At this point in time, Hanayo let out tiny snorts along with her giggles, and that same blush crept onto her cheeks.  
  
About five minutes later of tug-o-war with the person on the other end of the phone, took down their number for Kussun to call back, then slammed the phone into its charging station. A growl rumbled in her throat.  
  
“Fuck customers, seriously,” was all that came out of her gritted teeth. Hanayo couldn’t hold in her giggles anymore, and just burst out laughing. Nozomi looked up, confused.  
  
“Well, I’m glad _one_ of us had a good experience from that,” Nozomi instantly lightened her voice and threw a grin onto her face. It was very hard to be annoyed around the new kid, after all.


	5. Chapter 5

Hanayo had been working at the store for about a month, and she had realised that the majority of the mornings she worked were rather quiet, save for a few trades and such. It was considered normal by her other co-workers, who were used to the on-and-off waves. 

Hanayo was the youngest in the store, which mean that her pay rate was rather low. Due to this, Kussun had rostered her on for Sundays and Mondays with Nozomi.   
  
The older employee would open the store at 10am, and be by herself until Hanayo showed up at 11am. Normally, nothing happened in that time period, but Hanayo would always try to get to work at least twenty minutes early  _ just  _ in case it got stupidly busy. 

At 10:45am, Hanayo walked into the store. It had been raining outside, so she held a small green umbrella in her grip. There was a line of three people at the registers already, and Nozomi seemed to be taking her time with them.  
  
Upon seeing her enter, the green-eyed girl turned to face her and smiled.  
  
“Hanayo! Good morning!” She greeted and took the keys off of her left wrist to grant Hanayo access to the back room. Hanayo always treasured Nozomi’s keys as if they were something divine and holy.   
  
Upon setting down her bag, and grabbing a set of store keys from the hanger near Kussun’s unoccupied desk, Hanayo trotted out onto the floor again to hand back Nozomi’s keys and start work.   
  
“Thanks, this is a pretty big trade, and those guys just want to buy some little toys,” Nozomi thanked Hanayo in a soft voice, and the younger girl felt a blush come onto her cheeks. She turned her attention to the family in front of her, and started to serve people.   
  
The line died down instantly, and Nozomi let out a groan, leaning against the counter on her elbows.  
  
“Now that you’re here, I’m going to go get a coffee, because I haven’t had one yet this morning,” she clapped a hand on Hanayo’s shoulder. The younger employee couldn’t help but feel #blessed by this sinful angel.   
  
“Would you like anything?”  
  
“N-No, I’m fine.”  
  
“Okay, I won’t be long. I’m just going to Fumiko’s, be back in a second,” Nozomi made her way around the counter and skipped off to the coffee shop outside of the centre.  
  
Hanayo was on her own again, but she was honestly used to it by now. If she was ever getting swamped by customers, she could just call Nozomi, and the girl would be back in a flash.    
  
However, the second Hanayo finished a transaction, an unholy, horrendous sound rang throughout the shopping centre.  
  
A fire alarm.  
  
The loud ‘whooping’ and automated voice telling everyone of the ‘emergency’ and ordering them to ‘evacuate now,’ made Hanayo freeze. Her hands shook, and her forehead became beaded with sweat.  
  
_ ‘Oh no! Oh no oh no oh no!!’  _ Hanayo scrambled for her phone, which was kept in the drawer underneath the register. She dialled Nozomi’s number, and felt a tiny pang of relief once her senpai answered the phone.  
  
“Hello hello?”  
  
“N-Nozomi-Senpai! There’s an alarm going off!”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“What do I do?!”  
  
“To be honest, it goes off like once a week. You don’t have to worry. If it  _ does  _ persist, just shut the doors and head outside, ‘kay?”  
  
“O-Okay!” Hanayo yelled into the phone in order to be louder than the annoying alarm. 

  
She waited anxiously, but she may as well have been waiting for her death in a pit of quicksand. Nozomi didn’t come back instantly, and her throat clenched up.   
  
The automated voice was getting louder and louder, and it was starting to make her ears ring. In a fit of panic, Hanyo grabbed her phone and notebook, and bolted into the backroom, slamming the door behind her.   
  
She sat on the floor, knees to her chin, shaking in fear as the alarm grew louder and louder. She was going to die. This kills the Pana. Her vision was blurred by fear and her glasses going lopsided on her face.  
  
Hanayo pulled out her phone again, and shakily punched in her mother’s phone number.  
  
“Hello, Hanayo!”  
  
“Mum! I’m going to die! I love you!”  
  
“Wait, what?!”  
  
“MUM I’M SORRY I SCREAMED AND CRIED FOR  _ SUPER PRINCESS PEACH  _ WHEN I WAS LIKE SIXTEEN. I’M ALSO SUPER SORRY FOR BREAKING MY ELBOW AT THE PARTY WHEN I WAS EIGHT.”  
  
“Hanayo, what on earth are you going on about?!”  
  
‘MUM I AM GOING TO DIE IN THE BACKROOM AT WORK AND I’M SORRY FOR BEING A BRAT SOMETIMES I LOVE YOU PLEASE DON’T RENT OUT MY ROOM AFTER I’M G-”  
  
The door opened, and Hanayo whirled around with a scream. She instantly regretted the action, when she realised that Freddie and Jason’s presumed love child serial killer out to get her was actually Nozomi.  
  
The older girl stared down at her, an eyebrow raised and lips quirked. It took every ounce of willpower to not look up Nozomi’s skirt.   
  
“Hanayo?” Nozomi asked, then shook her head with a little sigh. The twin-tailed employee extended a tattooed arm and quirked a grin.  
  
“The alarm’s been going on for a while, so let’s shut the shop and skedaddle, hey?”  
  
Hanayo didn’t have to be told twice. She took her senpai’s hand and was hoisted to her feet. A rush of awakening came with her once Hanayo regained her balance.   
  
“Alrighty, let’s just lock the doors and head on o-”  
  
Hanayo couldn’t comprehend what Nozomi was saying. The ringing in her ears and the fear inside her stomach was far too loud. She looked terrified, eyes wide and lips quivering. Her breath was hitching at an uneven rate, and her throat clenched up.   
  
Hanayo was so deep in this eternal panic attack that not only could she not hear her senpai, she refused to let go of her hand.   
  
“Hanayo...Hanayo?”  
  
She was paralyzed in fear as her violet eyes glazed over. Her blurred vision made out a tiny grin on Nozomi’s face.   
  
_ ‘Great, as if my heart couldn’t take  _ any  _ more excitement today,’  _ she thought as Nozomi lightly squeezed her hand.  
  
“C’mon,” her voice still sounded distant, but it was low and gentle.  
  
“Let’s go lock the doors and get out of here. Have you got your phone?”  
  
Hanayo nodded, not even bothering to try and speak. She had already embarrassed herself in front of her favourite senpai by screaming to her mother on the floor of the backroom, tears ruining her glittery green eyeshadow and mascara. 

* * *

  
  
Nozomi’s grin didn’t waver once as Hanayo was lead by the hand to the front of the store. Nozomi opened the white panel that contained the metal shutters, and dragged them across to restrict access to the public to the store.   
  
She locked them into the ground, and then passed through the slither, Hanayo followed, head down and face red.  
  
Nozomi locked the main shutter with her keys, and lazily kicked each door to make sure the metal pins stayed locked in the ground. Hanayo was in awe that the older girl was so calm about the situation.   
  
Alarms were blaring, people were trotting out of the centre, and even the firemen were walking about.  
  
“If anything, this is an excuse to bludge,” Nozomi grinned at Hanayo, who didn’t know her cheeks had the capability to turn even redder.    


Hanayo was led out of the shopping centre, and Nozomi let out a sigh. The siren was muffled instantly when the automatic glass doors shut behind the two game-store employees.  
  
“Fresh air,” Nozomi grinned, and shot a glance at her.  
  
“Are you okay?”  
  
Hanayo still didn’t trust her throat, so she just nodded, her free hand clutching at her chest. Nozomi let out a sigh, and reached into her bra for her phone, making Hanayo a contestant for the guinness world record of the reddest face.   
  
“I’m just texting Kussun to let her know that the alarm was real, for  _ once _ ,” Nozomi grinned, the sunlight catching her septum piercing again. The tattooed employee put her phone away into her bra again, then looked at Hanayo with a wry smile.  
  
“Um, Hanayo?”  
  
“Y-YES!!” Hanayo screeched, making the older employee jump slightly.   
  
“I...um...need my hand back for a second…”  
  
“Oh! S-Sorry senpai,” Hanayo instantly snatched her hand back, feeling as though she had just lost touch with Nozomi. Hanayo cradled her hand awkwardly as Nozomi took the cigarette from being her heavily pierced ear and stuck it between her own lips, then fondled in her bra once again for something else.  
  
“Where the hell is it?” Her face fell into a slight scowl.   
  
“Did you need a light?”  
  
Hanayo looked up, and saw Maki walking towards them, a tiny red rectangular object in her hand. Nozomi smiled and leant forward, placing her hands behind her back.  
  
“Yes please!”   
  
Maki sighed and lit up the cigarette. The redhead turned to face Hanayo, and flashed the lighter at her.  
  
“Did you want one, too?”  
  
“A-Ah! No thanks, I don’t smoke,” Hanayo’s voice deteriorated into nothing as Maki grinned, lighting up a cigarette of her own.  
  
“Good. Don’t smoke. It’s literally the worst.”   
  
“You hypocrite, Maki,” a small girl with black pigtails stepped up next to Maki, a cigarette in her mouth, too.   
  
“Shut it, Nico-chan, you smoke too,” Maki mumbled, making the pigtail-girl growl in response.  
  
“Hanayo, this is Niccochi,” Nozomi introduced Hanayo to the smallest member of their makeshift circle.   
  
“She’s another makeup artist who works with Maki-chan. Don’t let her tiny stature fool you, she’s a legal adult. However, whether she chooses to  _ act  _ like one…”  
  
“LIKE YOU CAN TALK!” The tiny girl snapped, angrily chewing on her cigarette. Nozomi gently nudged Hanayo’s elbow, making the younger employee tense up.   
  
“Niccochi, this is Hanayo. She’s our new employee.”  
  
Nico stared at Hanayo: she was scanning every last detail of Hanayo’s face. Hanayo held her breath, she was scared to move, as if Nico was a blind snake sensitive to movement and would strike at even the tiniest gesture.   
  
Finally, what seemed after an eternity, Nico straightened up and exhaled smoke away from Hanayo’s face.  
  
“So,  _ this  _ is the famous Hanayo,” she placed her hands on her tiny hips and looked up at Nozomi.   
  
“This is her.”  
  
“Why did you hire  _ her _ ?!”  
  
Hanayo felt as if someone had stabbed her. She made a face akin to that of Jenna Marbles as Nozomi raised an eyebrow.  
  
“She’s too pure to work for your sinful company!”  
  
Nozomi instantly threw her head back and let out a bark of laughter.  
  
“Oh, Niccochi, you got that right!”  
  
“WHY DID YOU HIRE THIS INNOCENT LAMB?!”  
  
“I didn’t, but I’m glad Kussun did,” Nozomi flashed a wink at Hanayo.   
  
_ ‘That’s it. That’s how I die. Forget Mimorin-senpai’s winks, Nozomi-senpai’s winks will commit murder on me. RIP Koizumi Hanayo,’  _ Hanayo thought as she awkwardly twiddled with the end of her white shirt.  
  
The idle chat and light teasing continued as Nozomi, Maki and Nico smoked their cigarettes. Hanayo was more than content to just watch them, occasionally giggling at a remark or gasping at a note of gossip. However, she couldn’t help but shake the fact that this was all a dream: she was with her senpai and her senpai’s friends, chatting and looking cool with poisonous cylinders.    
  
_ ‘Am I punk yet? I’m  _ totally _ punk!,’  _ Hanayo grinned to herself, her little hands forming fists of joy while she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.   
  
“You okay there, kid?” Nico shot a raised eyebrow at Hanayo, who instantly tensed up and nodded.

“Y-Yes! I’m fine.”  
  
“Maki, Nico, we can get back to work now.”  
  
A new voice broke through the air like a gunshot. Hanayo looked up, and her heart actually stood still.  
  
The voice, that was slightly cold and soft, belonged to a tall woman. She had blonde hair that was neatly tied back in a ponytail, and bright blue eyes that gave off a cold, aloof vibe. The woman was taller than all of them, but she  _ towered  _ over Nico, and her rather icy aura didn’t help the situation, either.  
  
She wore the same black uniform as Maki and Nico, but her embroidered letters were light blue, in comparison to Maki’s red and Nico’s pink.  
  
“Aw, I wanted to avoid work a bit longer,” Nico whined, but the cold woman raised a perfect blonde eyebrow. If looks could kill, Nico would have been dead three times over.  
  
“Urgh,  _ fine _ ,” Nico threw her cigarette butt into the bin, then stomped back inside.  
  
“I’ll see you later, Nozomi and Hanayo.”  
  
Maki also flicked her butt into the bin, and sauntered off behind Nico.  
  
“See you,” she mumbled, twirling her hair as she went.  
  
The blonde woman watched them go, but her gaze turned to Nozomi. Hanayo noticed that this was the first time Nozomi looked... _ scared _ ..  
  
“Hi, Nozomi.”  
  
“Hello, Elichi,” was the quiet response from the game retailer. The older girl moved one arm behind her back, while the other still had a cigarette inside.  
  
The atmosphere went from cold to awkward almost instantly.   
  
“So...How have you been?”  
  
“The same as always,”  
  
“That’s...good, I guess,” The blonde was starting to mumble as her one-liners dissolved into nothingness. Nozomi glanced around, biting the corner of her mouth.   
  
“I see you got the lily on your neck done,”  
  
“Yeah...last month…”  
  
“That’s nice…”  
  
“Yeah…” Nozomi’s gaze rested on Hanayo, and a tiny grin curled at the corner of her lips.  
  
“Elichi, this is Hanayo. She’s a new employee. Hanayo, this is Eli. She’s the manager of  _ Bibi,  _ the makeup store.”  
  
Hanayo felt the blue gaze fall upon her, and she did her best to not squeak in terror.  
  
“N-Nice to meet you,” Hanayo quickly fell into a bow, focusing her gaze on the concrete. Hanayo was convinced if she were to look Eli in the eyes, that she would turn to stone.  
  
“Likewise,” was the response.  
  
Hanayo straightened up awkwardly, feeling the pressure in in her lower back as she did so. Nozomi’s mouth was shut tightly, save the cigarette that was sticking out of the side.   
  
“I...um...better head back inside...clients and all that…” The blonde rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, and quickly tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.   
  
“We should probably do the same,” Nozomi looked at Hanayo with a grin. The tattooed employee threw the cigarette into the bin and then a smile at Eli.  
  
“It was nice to see you again, Elichi,”  
  
“Same, Nozomi.”  
  
Nozomi nodded, then walked back into the centre with her hands behind her back.   
  
Hanayo was too busy looking at the bin to notice her senpai had walked off without her. She let out a little gasp, bowed again to Eli, and trotted after the older employee.   
  
When Hanayo caught up to Nozomi, she slowed down and fidgeted at her white shirt again awkwardly. Nozomi was looking down at the ground, biting her lower lip and twiddling her fingers.  
  
“Is something wrong, Nozomi-senpai?” Hanayo asked quietly, and got a simple shake of the head as a response.  
  
“Nope, everything is fine, Hanayo. Don’t worry about it,” Nozomi smiled at her, but the younger girl had been working Nozomi for just over a month.    
  
She knew the synthetic smile when she saw it. 

 

* * *

 

Nozomi didn’t slam the door to her room behind her, but rather pushed it shut with her foot.   
  
Her thoughts were clouded, and her body felt numb. Without even thinking, she took off her clothes and threw on pyjamas, then flopped down onto her bed and placed her head in her hands.  
  
Today was the first time in two months that she had seen Eli. Her ex-best friend, her ex-girlfriend, the woman she thought was her soulmate. Her heart flipped as she remembered walking home with the blonde after school, when they used to go to cafes and eat copious amounts of parfaits or window shop for anything tacky or cheap- their guilty pleasure, really.  
  
Nozomi let herself fall deep into the rabbit hole that was the memories of her beloved Elichi. To her, Elichi had hung the moon, she was her ray of sunshine, her  _ everything _ .  
  
Her emerald eyes fluttered shut as she sighed through her nose, tickling her septum piercing. Seeing Eli again just shook her to the core. They hadn’t spoken for two months since breaking up. Darkness engulfed Nozomi as her heart grew heavy, acting as a weight to keep her sitting on her bed.   
  
_ ‘Elichi,’  _ Nozomi’s hands gripped at her pierced ears, her throat was clenching up, and her breathing was turning shallow.  
  
It took all of the girl’s strength to get to her feet, it was as if she was pulling herself out of quicksand. Even more effort was put into the girl to walk to the window - had someone put sandbags on her feet?   
She wanted a cigarette, and a cigarette she would get. Fumbling around on her desk for that toxic roll and her lighter -  
  
Her lighter...That  _ fucking  _ lighter…  
  
_ ‘Happy 18th birthday, Nozomi!’  _ Eli had given her that lighter three years ago, against her parent’s wishes. It was the best lighter Nozomi had, and it was an heirloom - she might not be dating Eli anymore, but she sure has hell wasn’t going to get rid of the beautiful zippo.   
  
When Nozomi came in contact with the cold chrome surface, she brought it to the stick and clicked the flame alive. Moving to the window, Nozomi leaned her fragile exterior against it, staring at the moon and doing her best to blink back tears.   
  
“Elichi…”   
  
Wait...why were her cheeks wet? Nozomi raised her free, shaking hand and touched them.   
  
_ ‘Oh, fuck, really?’  _ She moved her finger to her face, the pad was splattered with tiny, murky droplets.  
  
_ ‘There goes my eyeliner, so much for respecting the raccoon,’  _ Nozomi let more tears fall, not even bothering to fix her silly mistake. She continued to let the tears roll down her face, smoking her cigarette and lamenting over her lost soulmate. 

 

* * *

 

Hanayo had never really had a reason to do anything more than look through _ Bibi’s _ windows in passing; she bought most of her make-up online or at the pharmacy, and there was something intimidating about the store, with it’s reflective black surfaces, mirrored walls and intense displays of cosmetics that cost more than some of her high school job pay checks. Since she’d started working with  _ EZ _ , and by extension Nozomi, she’d heard more and more about the store and it’s employees, causing her to slow down even further as she passed the store, but still never step in.

Until today.

_ ‘You know Maki, Maki’s lovely,’ _ she told herself internally,  _ ‘just go in and if anyone talks to you ask for Maki. You’re fine. Everything’s fine.’  _ Heaving a deep breath in and out, the brunette grips the strap on her handbag and steps in, ducking between aisles and trying not to stick out like a sore thumb as she surveyed the store.

There were only a few other customers in the store; two high school girls still in their uniforms trying eyeshadows on their hands and a woman scrutinizing exfoliators, and Hanayo. A familiar girl with pigtails stood at the counter, head in her palm as she flipped through a magazine with judging eyes, but the expression on her face was extremely aloof. Even just the slightest peek at one of the pages told Hanayo immediately that it was the latest copy of  _ Idol Times _ , the one with a featuring article about  _ A-Rise _ and the new album expected to drop in a few weeks.

The brunette didn’t realise how intensely she was staring at the magazine until the shop attendant cleared her throat, drawing Hanayo’s eyes up to the scathing gaze of Nico, who had been reading it.

“Oh, hello Hanayo,” Nico greeted in a rather dull voice. Hanayo fidgeted awkwardly with her handbag, and barely was able to force out a greeting herself due to her clenched throat. Nico might be tiny, but she could definitely kill someone if she put her mind to it. At least, that’s what Hanayo thought.   
  
“I-Is Maki-chan around?”  
  
Nico put her palms on the glossy black counter and craned her neck out to the left. With her small stature, she was finding it rather difficult to see over the aisles of makeup.  
  
“Hey! Maki!”  
  
A familiar head of red hair stuck out from behind an aisle, with the reflection of the back in the mirror on the wall.  
  
“Yes, Nico-chan?”  
  
“Hanayo’s here.”  
  
“Oh, j-just lemme finish cleaning my brushes,” Maki ducked her head away as a clatter of noise instantly sounded.  
  
“Argh, dammit!”  
  
“She won’t be too long,” Nico turned back to her magazine, humming a tune by A-Rise. The idol part of Hanayo’s brain switched on instantly. She recognized that melody, and immediately snapped into action.  
  
“I love  _ Shocking Party,  _ it’s a great song. I’m surprised it only got to number three on the charts, but then again,  _ A-Rise  _ did go through a stylistic change when they released it.”

Nico’s head shot up fast as a speeding bullet, staring at Hanayo for a good few seconds in intense thought before snapping shut her magazine and stepping back and positioning herself in a taller stature, tilting her head back slightly to look down her nose at Hanayo.

“It was pretty good for their second go; especially since it’s so hard to top  _ Private Wars _ . A lot of people were disappointed when they changed gears for  _ Shocking Party _ ,” at this, Nico huffed, tossing her head to flip her hair back across her shoulders,   
  
“But the real fans stayed true, of course.”

“Oh, yeah, of course, both albums are amazing,” Hanayo gushed.   
  
“I’m so ready for their concert next month, I’ve already got tickets for the live viewing they’re doing in the city.”

“You too?” Nico asked, eyes ablaze.   
  
“Maybe I’ll see you there.”

“Yeah, th-that would be nice!” The brunette said, tucking hair behind her ear. She’d always gone to events like that alone, before; sometimes Kotori or Honoka would take her, but they weren’t really interested in it like Hanayo was. The idea of being able to share her love of idols was almost overbearing.  
  
“Who's your favourite?”

“Tsubasa’s pretty hot,” intruded Maki, finally re-emerging from the wall of makeup mirrors as she patted her hands dry on the black apron around her waist. Nico scrunched her face, crossing her arms and turning to face the redhead.

“You don’t judge your favourite based on how  _ hot _ they are, Maki-chan.” Maki didn’t rise to the bait, rolling her eyes and ducking around to the front of the counter, putting her at even footing with Hanayo.

“You were looking for me?”

“A-ah, yes. I…” whatever confidence she had gained from her conversation with Nico seemed to fade under the eyes of Maki, her hands fidgeting in the air for a moment before clasping the strap on her bag again, eyes flickering between the redhead and the floor.   
  
“I, um, I wanted to ask about Nozomi-senpai.”

“Ohoho?” Interrupts Nico, leaning forward over the counter. “And what business do you have with our Nozomi-chan?” Hanayo squeaked, blushing intensely red and stammering out a near incomprehensible stream of denials.

“Leave her alone Nico,” Maki warns. She reaches out to grab Hanayo’s elbow, but decides against it, instead simply walking towards the store exit, Hanayo scrambling to follow and the redhead leads her to a table in the food court.   
  


* * *

“What’s up? Did she do something to make you uncomfortable?” Maki queried. Hanayo shook her head viciously, keeping her eyes on the hands fidgeting in her lap. She could feel Maki’s eyes on her, but she needed a moment to build up her courage. She’d never really tried to dig into anybody else’s life like this before.

“What… happened between Nozomi-senpai and Eli-senpai?”   
  
Maki visibly stiffened, fingers curling into her palms.   
  
“I-I know it’s not my business, not really, but there - there’s clearly history there, and I just thought… since it’s Nozomi-senpai...” Maki shut her eyes, breathing loudly once out her nose, visibly trying to unscrunch every muscle in her body before eyeing the brunette again.

“You can’t go spreading this around, okay? It isn’t gossip. I’m doing you a favour even telling you.” Her eyes are sharp and clear, no trace of the vague disassociation usually present in the redhead’s eyes. 

She’s invested in this; Hanayo nods solemnly, showing her own seriousness. Maki keeps her gaze for a long moment, before looking down, clasping her hands together on the tabletop.

“Nozomi and Eli were dating. For like, a long time. They were getting ready to move in together and everything. We all thought it was going to be forever.” Hanayo didn’t need to meet Maki’s eyes to sense the impending ‘but’.

“Eli took Nozomi to meet her parents. You’ve seen Eli, right?”   
  
Hanayo nods.   
  
“She’s like, textbook kid from a rich family. She does whatever her parents want. And I mean, I love her, don’t get me wrong, but she fucked up this time.”   
  
Maki frowned sharply, scratching at a mark on the table with a fingertip.   
  
“Eli’s parents are conservative types. They took one look at Nozomi and decided they didn’t like her. With the tattoos, and the smoking, and her language,” Maki smiled bitterly.   
  
“Everything we love about her was all wrong in their eyes. They wanted Eli to break up with her.”

“She didnt’?...” Hanayo whispered. Maki shook her head no, eyes sad.

“They didn’t break up right away. It really looked like Eli was going to fight for her. But she kept saying she was trying to ‘compromise’.” Maki punctuated this by making quotation marks in the air with her fingers, rolling her eyes.   
  
“She wanted to change Nozomi to please her parents. Kept asking her to stop smoking, and cover her arms, and take out her piercings. Stop swearing. She wanted to make Nozomi ‘palatable’ for her parents.”  
  
There was a moment of bitter silence, punctuated only by the distant murmur of a busy mall. 

“Eli’s parents are the real assholes here, trying to make Eli choose between her family and her girlfriend.” Maki said finally, looking up.   
  
“But Eli should have known better than to try and have her cake and eat it too. Nozomi’s stubborn, and proud. She won’t change for anything. It must have hurt when Eli refused to fight for her.”   
  
Hanayo could feel cold chills running up her arms, down her ribs and into her stomach, freezing her from the inside out. She couldn’t imagine something like that; being asked to change by the person who promised to love you for who you were.

“In the end it fell through. Nozomi put her foot down and walked out. Of course, she’d already signed away her apartment, but luckily she was able to find somewhere to live with some girls from the university she used to study at.” Maki said finally, leaning back in her chair. The air about her had changed; more morose.   
  
“That’s all I know about it.”

“Thank you, Maki-chan.” Hanayo whispered. Maki gave a curt nod, took a slow look around the cafeteria, and went back to her post at  _ Bibi. _

Hanayo sat quietly at the table for another 20 minutes, wondering how much of what she heard was unfiltered fact and how much was the result of Nozomi’s painful post-breakup confessions.  
  


* * *

  
“Dude, she’s learning how to do stock, she’s growing up so fast!” Mimorin smiled on a Tuesday afternoon as Nozomi and her scampered out of the store so as not to set off the alarm they just activated.

“We can talk when we’re out of the store!” Nozomi threw over her shoulder as Mimorin scooped up the garbage bags and trotted along behind the other employee.  
  
It was always a mad rush to get out of the store when the alarm was activated. They had exactly ten seconds to get out, or else the alarm would go off, and that shrill noise was not something anyone wanted at 8am or past 6pm.  
  
Mimorin had been with the company long enough to know  _ not  _ to wear heels when working. It was impractical, painful and just plain stupid. However, for some ridiculous reason, she had shown up in them for work today.  
  
“I’m gonna go out with my love later on, and I didn’t want to carry them with me,” was her response that made Nozomi’s eye twitch. What  _ idiot  _ wears heels for six and a half hours straight?!  
  
During their run for the door, the light to the real world, Mimorin suddenly realized that wearing heels was a  _ bad  _ move.   
  
She tripped over the 3DS display charger, and fell to the ground face first.  
  
“Mimorin!” Nozomi looked over her shoulder at her fallen comrade, they had exactly six seconds to get out of the store before the alarm blared. For a moment of pure panic, the two simply stared at each other.  
  
“N-Nozomi! Help me!” Mimorin extended a hand weakly, and Nozomi growled in frustration, doubled back, and grabbed the idiot’s hand. She practically pulled the other employee out of the store, but Mimorin then screamed in surprise.  
  
“MY HEEL!” Her left foot was bare, then shoe was currently tipped over next to the charger on the ground.  
  
“You can get it tomorrow!” Nozomi bolted for the door with four seconds to go, desperately trying to be free of her carpeted prison.   
  
Three seconds: Nozomi made a leap for the door, but lost her footing right before getting onto the other side and, in a reaction to the cruel joke physics had played on her, practically threw Mimorin out of the store.   
  
Two seconds: Mimorin went soaring over the tattooed employee and straight out the door.  
  
One second: Nozomi sprung herself off of her left leg out of the door and kicked it shut with her right foot as she landed flat on her concrete mall floor with a loud ‘Ooft!’  
  
“MIMORIN! LOCK IT!” Nozomi screamed at her fellow employee, who pushed herself off the floor and clicked down the bars to seal the doors.  
  
Zero.  
  
Both waited for what seemed an eternity, until finally, the satisfying silence let relief wash over the both of them. Nozomi let out a mixture of a groan and a sigh, and threw her head back. Mimorin leaned against the doors, whimpering softly at the heel that was still in the store.  
  
“Quit your whinging, just get it tomorrow,” Nozomi stood up and stretched out her back.  _ That  _ was going to hurt, she just knew it. Perhaps Rin would have a look at it? Surely if the idiot was studying health science she would know how to fix her back.   
  
“B-B-But I need it for my l-”  
  
“I’m pretty sure your love won’t give a flying fuck about you only having one shoe,” Nozomi cut Mimorin off in a flat, cold voice. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Ello! Sorry for the late update, life's been hectic.

Otonokizaka university was smack dab in the middle of three very distinct areas of Tokyo: Akihabara, Kanda and Jinbouchou. This meant that aside from the soccer mums, rich foreigners, an spoilt children during after school hours, another form of clientele for the shopping centre were university students.  
  
Although they were poor, they’d look around and eye the pricey items with a woeful look on their faces, and then settle for something far cheaper.  
  
Hoshizora Rin was one of these people.  
  
She might not be that smart, but her athletic skills _were_ what got her the scholarship. Late nights at the university with Umi, tutoring her on a subject the older girl knew nothing about, meant that the orange haired student would often browse the centre on Monday around the mid-morning. She only had a morning class, and would often sleep through the boring lecture on health science.   
  
Rin might be a star football player and maybe 45c off the dollar, but she knew how to manage her money. She was able to pay for both her rent and her pre-orders at EZ (thanks to Nozomi’s staff discount.) However, Rin only went into the game store to preorder and pick up her games.  
  
So it was certainly weird for her to be actually intent on _buying_ something for once.   
  
Rin knew Nozomi worked Mondays, but she was _not_ expecting the other person on shift to be so damn _cute_ . The athlete awkwardly fiddled with the backwards cap on her head, then scurried into the store.  
  
“Hello!” The girl behind the counter chirped as Rin made her way to the counter, trying her best to ignore the blush warming her cheeks.  
  
“H-Hi,” she stuttered, awkwardly fondling at the keys in her pocket.  
  
“I just wanted to get some FIFA points, if you don’t mind?”  
  
“Of course not,” the girl tapped at the computer in the same way Nozomi did, but she seemed to be extremely cautious.   
  
“Have you got the membership card?”  
  
“I do,” Rin reached into her bag and pulled out her wallet. The girl’s eyes lit up at the sight of the wallet, and Rin grinned.  
  
“I got it online. Pretty cool, hey?” She pulled out the tiny plastic card, coloured silver.  
  
“Wow, you’re level three!”  
  
“Y-Yeah, I tend to preorder tonnes of games from you guys,” Rin shrugged as the girl scanned her card.  
  
“Okay, how many points do you want?”  
  
Rin peered into her wallet, eyeing the $20 note her wallet, and bit her lip.  
  
_‘O-Okay, we can either help out this cute girl and buy a tonne of FIFA points, or $10 worth and use the money for lunch tomorrow…’_

The door opened, and out stepped Nozomi, her hair in their usual low twin-tails today. She had her man purse on and a leather jacket, with a pair of white sunglasses on her head.  
  
“I’m just going to do banking, Hanayo,” she smiled at the girl behind the counter, who nodded.  
  
“O-Okay, Nozomi-senpai!”   
  
Nozomi’s lips quirked, then she turned the corner to see Rin’s familiar face.  
  
“Rin-chan! What are you doing here?”  
  
“Hey Nozomi-chan!” Rin smiled back at her flatmate and adjusted her backpack.  
  
“Just buying some FIFA points, then I’ll be off to training.”  
  
“Sounds about right,” Nozomi crossed her arms and twitched her nose.  
  
“Just don’t blow all your money on the points. You need to eat at uni, remember?”  
  
Rin nodded, then turned to the other worker,   
  
“I’ll just get $10 worth of FIFA points, thanks,”  
  
“S-Sure,” she seemed rather left out, so Rin handed her the note with a grin.  
  
“I’m Rin, by the way. I live with Nozomi.”  
  
“R-Really?” Violet eyes turned to Nozomi, who smiled and nodded.  
  
“She’s one of my flatmates.”   


* * *

  
  
Upon meeting Nozomi’s flatmate, Hanayo couldn’t help but feel as if she was given another key to unlock the heavily guarded door that was Nozomi’s private life. She lived a flat with two university students, who went to the same campus as Hanayo. Turns out Rin was in the same year, but just studied something different, and was on a scholarship for athletics.  
  
Nozomi had left to drop off the bank deposits, so Hanayo and Rin were just left alone in the store.  
  
“So…”   
  
“So..” It was awkward...again...Hanayo twiddled her thumbs and looked around the store. She noticed the section were all of their skylanders were was a bit of a mess, so she walked behind the counter to fix them. Rin followed her, awkwardly slipping the receipt into her wallet for later.  
  
“What’s it like being on a scholarship?” Hanayo asked as she rearranged the skylanders by color.  
    
“Tiring, to be honest,” Rin’s answer came a crooked little grin.   
  
“Trying to balance athletics training with studying is a pain, so I have to get Umi-chan to help me study, since she's been at uni longer than me.”  
  
“Y-You call your senpai ‘Umi-chan?’” Hanayo cast a quizzical look at the ginger, who shrugged.  
  
“Yeah, so? Umi-chan even _said_ we should be relaxed and such, since we live together and all that. Nozomi-chan agrees,” Rin observed the packaged toys, and made a face at one with blue tentacles and a pirate hat.  
  
“Do you reckon the kids who play with these things know about the dark side of tentacles?”  
  
Hanayo’s quizzical look stayed on her face, and Rin instantly gulped.  
  
“U-Uhm...Never mind…” The innocence that radiated from Hanayo was just too pure to tinge with a further explanation of her joke.

-

When Rin finally left the store with her hands in her pockets, she couldn’t help but notice her heart flutter. Hanayo was so cute and innocent.   
  
“I am _definitely_ going to ask her out!” Rin pumped a fist, then scurried off to redeem her FIFA points.   


* * *

 

Hanayo supposes, compared to the way she’d imagined her university life, that the house she shared with Honoka and Kotori was fairly quiet. Not the kind of quiet there was when you didn’t like your roommates, tip-toeing around each other and trying to act like you don’t live together at all, but also not the sort of rambunctious insanity she’d always assumed came as part of the university package. The three girls would try to eat dinner together whenever they could, watched TV in the evenings, made pillow forts in the living room whenever there was a power outage. If they even so much as passed each other in the hall they’d probably stop and have a conversation. But it was all peaceful and congenial.

At least until Kotori felt comfortable enough to start watching _The Jerry Springer Show_ in their shared house.

“What the _fuck_ Shanique?! There’s no call for that sort of behaviour!” Kotori’s voice was cutely high pitched on a good day, but screaming at her laptop screen at 11:30 at night was a different thing altogether. Even muffled by the walls of her bedroom, Kotori’s screech seemed to echo through every room in the house.

“Kotori-chan, shhh!” Came Honoka’s significantly quieter voice from her own room. Kotori’s only response was an anguished scream, followed by the familiar chanting of “Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!”

Hanayo giggled to herself, grabbing her mp3 and shoving her headphones in to drown out the sound of Kotori’s Springer-related breakdown with the new Rippishika album. She picked up her phone to set it on vibrate just in time for a text from her roommate to come through.

****_11:34pm_  
**_Honoka  
_ ** _We’re soundproofing her room this christmas -_-_

The brunette couldn’t help but laugh aloud, quickly tapping out a response.

****_11:35pm_  
**_Hanayo  
_ ** _Maybe our neighbours will be willing to chip in. ^^_

She set her phone down on the desk and turned to her laptop, document open and ready. _EZ Games_ had a deal with a charity nationwide to raise money over a week every year, but every store was in charge of it’s own individual money raising program, and she wanted to get a head start on thinking up an idea.

_‘Even if it’s only pocket change, people tend to be loathe to hand over their money without some kind of incentive,’_ Hanayo thought, absentmindedly creating the most disgusting looking WordArt headline she could.

She faffed about for about 10 minutes and gotten through three and a half songs on her Rippishika playlist with a single idea before realising her phone was lit up with a new message. She quickly picked it up, almost dropped it, and swiped open, already smiling over what was sure to be some more witty banter from one of her roommates at the other’s expense.

Hanayo blinked down at her phone. It was not witty banter.

****_11:41pm_  
**_Unknown Number  
_ ** _Hey!!! Uh it’s Rin, i dont know if u rremember me im nozomi’s roomate? She gave me ur number lol_

****_11:43pm_  
**_Unknown Number  
_ ** _Anywayyy i was thinking maybe youd like to hang out sometime?_

  _11:44pm  
_ ** _Unknown Number  
_** _No wait i mean like, i want to take u out on a date_  

****_11:45pm_  
**_Unknown Number  
_ ** _Ur very cute and i’m very nerboufs lol_

****_11:46pm_  
**_Unknown Number  
_ ** _*nervous_  

****_11:46pm_  
**_Unknown Number  
_ ** _Hello?_

Hanayo checked the time on her laptop screen; 11:48. She quickly added the number to her contacts and slammed out a response, nervous about Rin thinking she was ignoring her,

****_11:48pm_  
**_Hanayo  
_ ** _I’m here sorry i had my headphones in I didn’t hear my phone_

**_11:49pm  
_****_Hoshizora Rin_** _  
_ _Oh ok lol no worries. So…?_

Hanayo lowered her phone into her lap, staring at the text. She’d never been asked out by anybody before, but she was fairly certain most people didn’t do it via text. That said, it was a bit of a relief knowing that if she said no, she wouldn’t have to say it to Rin’s face.

_‘But do I_ want  _to say no?’_ she thought. She tapped her nails against the phone’s back, thinking carefully. Hanayo had never really liked anyone before; she wasn’t sure how it was supposed to feel, or work. But Rin was cute, and funny, and seemed very earnest.

****_11:51pm_  
**_Hanayo  
_ ** _I think a date would be nice. (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄_

A few minutes passed in tense silence before her phone lit up again.

****_11:54pm_  
**_Hoshizora Rin  
_ ** _oushgdvo holy shit i didn’t think u’d say hyes_

****_11:55pm_  
**_Hoshizora Rin  
_ ** _but thank you!!! it’ll be super fun you won’t regret it_

 

* * *

 

Nozomi walked out of the bathroom, lazily drying her long purple hair that was free from its ties. Wearing only the black t-shirt she wore that day, with a pair of blue boxer shorts, she was pretty much ready to just head to her room, shut the door and indulge in some late night reading. She knew damned well that the Thursday night shift would always drain an employee, no matter how busy or whom they worked with.   
  
So when a howl of joy came from Rin’s room, Nozomi was certainly surprised. She snapped her eyes open at the sudden noise, followed by a bit of heavy breathing.

Nozomi was well aware of Rin’s tendencies to get very excited and overreact over the simplest things: after living with her for two months, the game retailer had scooped up a fair bit of dirt on the athlete: who could forget the 2am cockroach scare? Rin had woken everyone up because of the vermin in her room.  
  
There was also the classic incident Nozomi liked to refer to as ‘The Heist.’ Both had been playing GTA on different consoles to see who could complete a heist the fastest, and Rin had screamed, jumped up and down on the couch, swore and kicked out every time something happened to her. The pierced girl bit her lip, and knocked lightly on Rin’s door.  
  
“Rin-chan, you okay in there?”   
  
The screaming stopped, and heavy breathing became louder. Sure enough, the door opened, and Rin was standing there. She looked pale, and her forehead was beaded with sweat.   
  
“Rin?” Nozomi dropped the honorific and quirked an eyebrow at her young flatmate. The orange-haired girl’s lips quirked into a psychotic grin.  
  
“She said yes!”   


* * *

 

Okay, so, honesty hour. Hanayo had kind of sort of maybe assumed that a date with Rin would be something laid back, or sporty or something. Maybe they’d go to the park, or an arcade, or go watch a baseball game. Those seemed like things Rin would like, and Hanayo wouldn’t mind too much if it meant getting to see Rin for the person she was, enjoying the things she likes the most.

So when she got a text from Rin telling her to _‘dress nice, we’re going fancy >:3c’_ she couldn’t hold in her surprise (or her snort at the utter ridiculousness of it all).

And then she showed up at the door in a tux.

“Oh my god,” Honoka says from down the hall, and she can see the flash of Kotori’s smartphone camera over her shoulder, but she’s honestly distracted by how well it fits the redhead, who doesn’t waste a second before throwing up a peace sign and posing for Kotori’s photos.

“You look amazing, Rin-chan!” Hanayo chirped.   
  
‘Cute’ was the word she had wanted to use, but she could already imagine Rin throwing on a pout and complaining ‘but I’m trying to be handsome!’, something Hanayo doubts she could call a woman half a head shorter than her. Instead, she sticks with ‘amazing’, and revels in the splash of red that coats Rin’s cheeks.

“You look amazing too! Your dress is super cute, kayo-chin!” Hanayo looks down at herself; she’s wearing a fairly basic green dress with a white cardigan and some simple jewellery, an outfit she’d worn to a relative’s wedding not long ago.

Honoka snorts again, half hiding behind the living room door. “Kayo-chin!” She giggles.

Rin pouts, stepping back slightly. “Is that not okay?”

“No, no!” Hanayo placates, hands waving in a calming gesture.  
  
“I like it, it’s cute.” Hanayo doesn’t have to tell her twice; Rin’s already smiling, dragging Hanayo into one last photo for Kotori (who honestly looks like she’s about to burst into tears) and sharing comically serious looks and nods with Honoka (“make sure you bring our daughter back safely before 10!” “yes sir!”) before pulling her out of the house and to the car parked on the curb.

“I didn’t know you owned a car, Rin-chan.” Hanayo stated, giggling as Rin opened the passenger door for her and shut it carefully behind her, jogging around the car to get into the driver’s seat as fast as possible.

“I don’t!” She chirped, “I borrowed it!”

* * *

 

_~Yesterday~_

“Nozomi-chan, can I borrow your car?”  
  
The question hit the EZ employee from across their breakfast bar. Nozomi quirked an eyebrow over her pad thai. Thursday nights were the three’s ‘takeout night,’ seeing as it was the only time the three flatmates were home during the week.  
  
At their breakfast bar, Umi ignored the conversation, nibbling on a spring roll and sticking her nose further into her law textbook. Nozomi put down her chopsticks and smirked.  
  
“I believe you’re forgetting a magic word, Rin-chan.”  
  
“Oh! Can I _please_ borrow your car tomorrow night, Nozomi-chan?”  
  
Umi smiled from her textbook, and Nozomi hummed in thought.  
  
“When was the last time you borrowed my car?”  
  
“I have _never_ borrowed your car, but Umi-chan has.”  
  
“That she has, and she was very good,” Nozomi smiled at Umi, who stuck up her nose proudly. Umi would not even start the car until everyone had their seat-belts on, and threw her phone in the boot so to not get distracted.  
_  
_ “So, could I _please_ borrow your car? Just this once?”  
  
“Do you even drive?”  
  
“I have my provisional licence, and the plates.”  
  
Nozomi cringed - her beautiful car, tainted with the foul plates of a young driver.  
  
“Nozomi, need I remind you only _just_ got your full licence?”  
  
“Sh-shush, Umineko,”  
  
“I’ll be super careful, and I won’t be out too long,” Rin was practically pleading over her salt-and-pepper squid. The game retailer mulled over the situation: it wasn’t like Rin was going on a road trip or anything.  
  
But of course, there were rules to borrowing the car, as Rin found out after dinner in Nozomi’s room.  
  
“Don’t park anywhere near those polls in the carpark, and always park with the nose in. Before you come home, put $20 worth of petrol in her, and do not leave any rubbish inside. If you’re going to blast music, use the aux cord but be careful with it,” Nozomi spoke quickly as she checked everything off her list.   
  
Rin’s eyes were glazing over at all of the rules, but in the end, she agreed, and even wrote out a document and signed the bottom for Nozomi to keep.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wtf Rin this is rarepair hell
> 
> Tumblrs:
> 
> @kayo-chin
> 
> @tarot-tatas


	7. Chapter 7

Hanayo and Rin end up driving a few towns over, chatting amicably while the radio hums quietly beneath their voices, to go to a restaurant in a slightly nicer neighbourhood that the one either of them lived in. The area was mostly inhabited by retirees and well-off upper-middle class families, and the shops on the main street reflected that; trendy artisan coffee shops, small pricey boutiques and a number of restaurants ranging from an upscale japanese-french fusion restaurant to the fanciest local pub Hanayo had ever driven past.

“I swear there was an actual person in an actual tuxedo playing the piano in there,” Hanayo said, letting Rin shut the car door for her after she stepped out.   
  
“The pub near where I grew up had a piano too, but the lid was bolted shut. I’m fairly certain there weren’t actually any keys under there.” she mused. Rin giggled, offering her arm to lead Hanayo through the door of their destination for the evening.

_ Le Papillion _ had opened about a year ago, to rave reviews. It had the typical low lighting and quiet murmuring atmosphere of a high class restaurant, with little tea lights on every table and the quiet glint of polished silver in the corner of every glance. Stepping in felt like being transported to another world. 

“What the heck is  _ foie gras _ ?” Rin grits.

Apparently this world is one that required a dictionary to read a menu.

“Hold on, I’m gonna google it.” Rin shoots her a thumbs up as she secretively pulls her phone out of her purse, using the tablecloth as a shield as she types the dish name into her search bar.

“Oooh my gosh, oh no it’s fattened duck liver.” 

Rin makes a scrunched, disgusted face that is almost painfully cute and flips the page in her menu. “Yeah, no thanks mate.” Hanayo nods sagely in agreement.

The rest of the menu looks to be much of the same; everyone comes with ‘a raspberry jus’ or ‘a sweet potato reduction’, and they seem to pick the grossest parts of every animal, and honestly they had to google the entire entree section. They were at an impasse; neither wanted to order anything, but neither wanted to be the one to cave either.

Hanayo absently flipped her menu over, wondering if starting from the back would change the contents, before realising that somehow two of the plastic-covered pages in her menu had stuck together. She slipped her nail between the pages and pried them apart, almost crying with relief at what lay within.

“Rin-chan, oh my gosh, there’s a Kid’s Menu.”

“What!?” Rin half whispered, half screeched, flipping to the same page in her own menu. Hanayo felt her heart sink out of her throat at how Completely On Board With This Rin sounded, leaning back in her chair.

“Okay, I’m calling it, we’re both getting nuggets.” She said finally, grinning as Rin violently nodded her assent.

It was only slightly morbidly embarrassing to actually order from the waiter - who to their credit barely even blinked - and from there came the scary bit.

Interacting.

“So.” Rin started.

“So.” Hanayo replied.

 

* * *

  
With Rin having taken her car, Nozomi was, for once, in the living room of the flat. She sat on the couch, legs crossed and tongue sticking out as she played  _ Dragon Age: Inquisition.  _ For someone who worked in a video game store, Nozomi herself rarely played any games. The PS4 was used by Rin mainly, and Nozomi used her PC more for reading than actual gaming. She might not actually  _ be  _ at uni currently, but that didn’t mean the former student wasn’t interested in studying; she was able to gain access to Otonokizaka’s university through Umi’s student details, and would borrow books and download PDFs using her account. Umi didn’t mind, because they were for genuine educational purposes, but she didn’t like having to kick Nozomi up the behind because the books she borrowed were overdue. The law student did not want  _ any  _ of that blasphemy on her record. 

But Nozomi had finished the book  _ ‘Communism in England,’  _ and just decided to check up on her Inquisitor. The mighty looking blonde qunari ran through the Emerald Graves, looking for more red templars she may have missed before. Nozomi was  _ so  _ invested in her gaming, that she didn’t notice the text messages that were making her phone have an epileptic fit.    
Twenty minutes later, after some bastard sniper got a lucky shot on her mage baby, she let out a scoff and kicked out a leg in frustration,  _ then  _ Nozomi noticed the flashing device.    
A quirked eyebrow later, and she unlocked the phone in a single swipe.   
  


**_21:46_ ** ****_  
_ **_Rin Weasley_ ** _   
_ hELP

Nozomi’s quirked eyebrow stayed as she tapped out a response.

  
**_21:48_ ** ****_  
_ **_Nozomi_ ** _   
_ _ What’s up, buttercup? _

As the small ellipses showed up, indicating that Rin was in the process of typing, Nozomi grabbed her white PS4 controller again and resumed wandering around the Emerald Graves.    
  
_ Just  _ as she was about to send her perfect Adaar off to wipe out the red templars, her phone buzzed in her top again. Nozomi paused and thrusted a hand down her shirt to retrieve the phone.   
  
_ ‘Dammit Rin,’  _ she selfishly thought, opening the screen again to read the text.   
  
**_21:49_ ** ****_  
_ **_Rin Weasley_ ** ****_  
_ _ No...plz help _ __   
__   
Nozomi put down her controller and brought her legs up to cross them on the couch. She bit her lip, and typed out a response;   
  
**_21:50_ ** ****_  
_ **_Nozomi_ ** _   
_ __ Slow down there kiddo, did something happen?

She really couldn’t help Rin if she didn’t know what was going on. Perhaps Rin’s credit card was declining? Or they were stuck in traffic.    
_ ‘Oh no, what if they crashed my car,’  _ Nozomi’s insides twisted into a black hole. Rin would  _ surely  _ know better than to drive recklessly, and she  _ did  _ sign the form. Nozomi’s eyes, that had glazed over in fear for her car, suddenly snapped back into focus when her screen lit up.   
  
**_21:52_ ** ****_  
_ **_Rin Weasley_ ** ****_  
_ _ Okya so i took kayo-chin to le papilyon and we foudn the nuggets but i cant do it nozza i jsut cant  _ __   
**  
** Nozomi blinked, blank looking at the illegible sentence. She could barely make out Rin’s texts normally, but  __ this  was a whole new level of self-inflicting dyslexia. 

**21:52** ****  
**Nozomi** ****  
_ What exactly can’t you do? Hanayo? _   
  
**21:53** ****  
**Rin Weasley** ****  
_ NO YOU PERV kayo-chin doestn leik sports _   
  
**21:53** ****  
**Nozomi** ****  
... _ That’s it? _ __   
  


**21:53** ****  
**Rin Weasley** **  
** _ Shes also artsy and i cant do any of that stuff plus… _

**21:53** ****  
**Nozomi** ****  
_ Plus… _   
  
**21:53** ****  
**Nozomi** ****  
_ Rin-chan, what else happened? _   
  
**21:54** ****  
**Rin Weasley** **  
** _ Im in the friendzone!!! _

Nozomi slammed her forehead against her phone, holding a minute of silence for her sister who had entered the bottomless pit that was the Friendzone. She straightened up and regretfully typed out the question she was dreading to be answered.

  
**21:55** ****  
**Nozomi** **  
** _ Ouch, sorry to hear that. What do you want me to do? _

**21:55** ****  
**Rin Weasley** ****  
_ sAVE mE PlEEEAASssEESESSESSESSS _   
  
Nozomi let out a groan that went on for longer than five seconds. She was going to have to get dressed and save the both of them.  _ Just  _ what she had wanted to be doing on a friday night. She’d have to get on  _ public transport  _ to get to the two children.   
  
_ ‘I could get a taxi, but that costs money,’  _ Nozomi thought, as she typed out a quick response.   
  
**21:57** ****  
**Nozomi** ****  
_ Alright, but you’re going to have to sit tight. It might take some time for me to get you. _ __   
__   
Turning off the PS4 and standing up, Nozomi let out a whine. She climbed the stairs to her room to go throw on some decent clothes.   
  
It was slightly cold, so the tattooed woman threw on a pair of jeans and just put on a bra underneath her black shirt. She really couldn't give two shits about changing that. One hoodie and leather jacket later, she checked her phone for bus times - something she hadn’t done for about three years since getting her licence.  
  
“You owe me, Weasley,” she grumbled, stomping down the stairs and throwing on her converse. Nozomi hit the side of her wall with her fist, earning a yelp from within the structure.  
  
“Umineko, I’m going to save Rin-chan, don’t wait up for me, unless you happen to have an automobile in your back pocket?”  
  
“N-No, sheesh Nozomi!” Umi’s pant of a reply, having the living daylights scared out of her. Nozomi sighed and untangled her earbuds.  
  
“Okay, If I die, don’t rent out my room unless my ghost says so.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Public transport, my dear Umineko,” Nozomi groaned, and made her way out of the flat. She ignored Umi’s yelling about how public transport wasn’t  __ that  bad by putting in her earbuds. She was going to need all of the alt-punk she could muster for this journey.

 

* * *

 

Lucky for Nozomi, the bus was on time. She flipped open her wallet and pulled out the travel card that hadn’t been touched in four years. She scanned it, silently praying that it would work. It did, with the screen flashing to say she only had $3 left to use. Nozomi shrugged, not really caring. It was one trip into the nicer area of town, not a road trip to Kyushu. She strolled to the very back of the bus and plonked down into the very left corner. She turned up her music to full blast and tuned out the rest of the world. It was rather dark, and the bus only had four occupants, counting the driver.   
  
_ ‘At least there’s barely anyone here,’  _ Nozomi grinned, closing her eyes and letting  _ The Arctic Monkeys  _ take over her train of thought.  
  
But a new memory boarded the train.  
  
It was the last year of high school, and Nozomi and Eli had gotten onto the bus, giggling at some joke or another. They made their way to the back left corner of the bus and slid into the seats. They continued to make jokes, share some laughs and idle on about anything and everything. Come to think of it, not many people were on the bus whenever Nozomi took them, but back in those days, the only person that mattered was her Elichi. She remembered getting lost in those sparkling blue eyes, and feeling her heart flutter whenever she’d lay her head on Nozomi’s shoulder, since the movement of the bus would make her sleepy. She’d even trail light kisses along Nozomi’s neck.   
  
The green eyes closed at the memory, and tears prickled at the edges. She shook her head,  and realized that the [song that was playing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh0RFSjCdcI) wasn’t helping.   
  
With a few furious taps, Nozomi came across a more upbeat song, and nodded affirmatively.    
  
It was another twenty minutes before the familiar lights of the northern area of the city made Nozomi push the button for the bus to stop. According to the map on her phone,  _ Le Papillion  _ should be exactly three-hundred metres from where the bus would let her off. The tattooed woman placed her travel card against the reader, which dinged to let her know she had only 45c left, not that she cared. She’d be getting her precious car back soon enough.   
  
Upon exiting the bus, Nozomi did a little skip to regain the rhythm of her walking to sync up with the beat of her music. She could see the lights of  _ Le Papillion  _ up ahead, and knew she was at the right place. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nozomi to the rescue and Hanayo is embarrassed by her mothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been 84 years holy shit but just remember kids, miracles do happen.

Nozomi stood out like a sore thumb. Her leather jacket + hoodie + jeans combo wasn’t suited for this exquisite place. She got a few haughty looks from the people sitting down, but ignored them. She wasn’t going to be too long.  
  
The woman was so focused on her mission, that she barely saw a familiar head of brown hair with pink tips sitting in the corner of the restaurant. Nozomi’s heart skipped a beat and the adorable little green dress Hanayo was wearing. And headed straight to the female bathrooms. The stares never left, but Nozomi just didn’t pay any attention.  
  
_‘Five minutes, in and out,’_ she thought, hands in pockets as she elbowed the door open.   
  
Lucky for Nozomi, it only took three minutes to convince Rin to get out of the bathroom stall. The young athlete looked a mess - her tux was lopsided and her shirt was unbuttoned. Her very minimal makeup was running, showing evidence of tears having attacked. Nozomi left the bathroom, pulling Rin out by the sleeve of her tux.  
  
The older employee walked right up to the table Hanayo was sitting at, enjoying the confused look on her face as to why her Senpai was standing in this very fancy yet overpriced restaurant.  
  
“N-Nozomi-senpai?” Hanayo’s confusion deepened as her gaze flitted from Nozomi to Rin, then back down at the empty plate that had nugget crumbs. Nozomi gave a small smile, and tugged on Rin’s tux again.  
  
“Come on, Hanayo, let’s skedaddle,” Nozomi reached into Rin’s pocket and pulled out that [hideous wallet](http://ep.yimg.com/ay/stylinonline/nyan-cat-wallet-4.jpg) again.   
  
“But not before Rin-chan pays.”  
  
“What the-” Rin couldn’t finish her sentence, because Nozomi had shot her a smile that had the undertone of death.  
  
“N-Nya, I’ll go do that now…” Rin swiped the wallet and trudged off to get the check. Hanayo’s confusion was practically radiating, and Nozomi bit her lip, trying her best not to blush at how adorable she looked.  


* * *

  
  
Once Rin returned with a significantly lighter wallet, she lead the way back to Nozomi’s car, a cloud of shame hanging over her head.  
  
“And don’t forget, you _still_ have to chip in for petrol,” Nozomi clapped a hand on Rin’s shoulder, smiling.  
  
The athlete paled, practically feeling her wallet floating away for the lack of currency inside.  
  
“Rin-chan, don’t worry about it, I can pay for y-”  
  
Nozomi’s hand flew out as a sign of protest.  
  
“Absolutely not, Hanayo. Rin-chan was the one driving, therefore it is her burden to bare.”  
  
“Don’t worry, Kayo-chin,” A sad grin was flashed at the youngest of the trio, “I signed a contract, that’s all.”  
  
_‘A contract?’_ Hanayo’s puzzlement was so evident it practically radiated from her. She was about to ask for an explanation, but Rin rounded the corner and stopped at the blue Mitsubishi parked neatly in the street.  
  
Green eyes widened with joy as the car came into sight.    
  
“It’s been eighty-four years,” Nozomi lightly touched the bonnet with her hand and clutched at her heart with the other.  
  
“Um,” Hanayo eyed Rin for an explanation. Rin, having removed her magnetic plates from the car, stuffed one hand into her pocket.  
  
“Nozomi-chan likes her car...a lot…”  
  
The oldest of the trio reached into Rin’s pocket, getting a surprised ‘nya!’ from the girl, and pulled out a single key.  
  
“Yes, my precious,” Nozomi was too mesmerized by the metallic item in her hand that she didn’t see Hanayo bite her lip.  

With Rin being forced to sit in the back, the drive back to their area of the city was rather quiet. Not much small talk was made, and it was driving Hanayo’s internal anxiety up the wall.  
  
“S-So, Nozomi-senpai…” She twiddled her thumbs awkwardly.  
  
“How was the bus ride?”  
  
“Eh, it was nothing special,” Nozomi’s shrug of a response came with a raised eyebrow and a glare into the rear-view mirror, clearly directed at Rin.  
  
“I’m sorry, Nozomi-chan.”  
  
“I was _this_ close to completing a perfectly planned ambush in the Emerald Graves, Rin-chan,” Nozomi raised her right hand and barely placed her thumb and first finger together. What seemed to scare the ginger was that Nozomi’s smile did not falter once.  
  
“B-but didn’t you already _finish_ that game?”  
  
“I was trying to get a trophy for killing two-and-a-half thousand enemies,” there was a flash of determination the emerald eyes as the woman flicked the indicator.  
  
_‘Emerald Graves?’_ Hanayo instantly recognised what Nozomi was talking about, and her jaw dropped.  
  
“Do you play _Dragon Age: Inquisition_ ?!”  
  
Nozomi turned to shoot a quickly look at Hanayo, since she raised her voice.  
  
“Yes, I do...I play a bit too much of it,” Nozomi admitted, ignoring the blush creeping onto her cheeks. Hanayo’s eyes glistened as Nozomi turned into a small street.  
  
The street lamp lit up the sign, reading ‘Lily White Lane.’  
  
“Alrighty, Rin-chan,” Nozomi pulled out the front of a rather normal looking apartment building. She put the handbrake on and turned to Rin.  
  
“This is your stop, kiddo,” she smiled, and Rin sniffled out a confused ‘nya?’  
  
“I’m going to take Hanayo home, but our place is closer,” Nozomi explained.  
  
“Oh,” Rin blinked, and then opened the car door.  
  
“Thanks again for picking me up, Nozomi-chan.”  
  
“W-wait! Rin-chan!” Hanayo unclipped her seatbelt and quickly opened the door to meet Rin. The orange-haired athlete turned around, eyebrows raised.  
  
Hanayo caught her breath, awkwardly staring at Rin while she tried to form a logical sentence in her mind.  
  
“Rin-chan, I’m so sorry it didn’t work out, I really am…”  
  
Rin placed a hand on Hanayo’s shoulder, and let a smile quirk onto her lips.  
  
“Nah, don’t worry about it, Kayo-chin!” she tilted her head to the side.  
  
“I had a really nice chat with you, so there’s no loss,” she took her hand away and pulled out a set of keys from her pocket.  
  
“I guess I’ll see you around?”  
  
“Yes, definitely,” Hanayo nodded in agreement, and hugged Rin one more time.   
  
As the ginger-haired girl walked into the apartment block, Hanayo turned back to the car and opened the door. She slid onto the passenger's seat and took out her phone from her pocket.  
  
“Everything okay?” Nozomi asked her lightly. Hanayo looked up and nodded.  
  
“Yes, Nozomi-senpai, everything is fine,” she smiled and opened up the _maps_ application, punching in the address.  
  
“I can direct you to my place,” she waited for the automated voice to start while Nozomi unlocked the hand brake with a nod.  
  
“Sure thing.”  


* * *

 

  
Driving through the city on a friday night was something that provided both girls with two thoughts: The first was the unsettling nervousness Hanayo felt about being out and about at this time of night - safe to say it wasn’t a common occurrence.  
  
Then again, Nozomi didn’t do this often either, not for a long time…

The headlights, along with Hanayo’s instructions, beamed a way back to the younger girl’s house. Nozomi followed all the instructions to a T, and for once in her life, stuck to the speed limit (upon hearing Hanayo’s squeak of terror upon Nozomi running a red light.)  
  
The drive wasn’t _overly_ uncomfortable. The two were able to talk about their inquisitors, and the contrast was quite hysterical. Nozomi’s chaotic neutral Adaar with a penchant for lightning magic and wooing Josephine Montilyet, and Hanayo’s tiny neutral good Lavellan who loved everything and fought with a bow to avoid seeing the people she killed. (funnily enough, both characters shared a mutual dislike of Solas. Nozomi imagines their Inquisitors would be friends.)

But it wasn’t until Nozomi’s ipod shuffled to the [worst song possible in that situation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFaR-m1qsqU). 

“ _In the car I just can't wait_  
to pick you up on our very first date"  
  
Nozomi’s face turned a bright red, and her knuckles went white on the steering wheel.  
  
“I...Um…” Nozomi’s voice trailed off into nothingness as she desperately tried to glue her eyes to the road.

Hanayo’s eyes don’t go off the road, but it doesn’t seem like she’s trying to avoid Nozomi’s gaze; her head is bopping slightly, and she can hear the quiet squeaking of the new leather on Hanayo’s shoes as she taps her toes. It doesn’t seem like the brunette is picking up on the awkward lyrics.

“Who sings this? Blink-182?” she asked suddenly. Nozomi quickly flexes her fingers around the wheel to prevent jerking it in surprise.

“Yeah. You know them?”

“Not really, but they have a pretty distinctive sound. I kinda like it.”

“Yeah, I love their stuff.” Finally Hanayo looks away from the road and up at Nozomi, smiling brightly at her.   
  
Every few seconds the warm glow of a streetlight cut into the car, sliding over the black interior and making the clip in her hair shine.

_‘Eyes on the road, Nozomi,’_ she thought to herself, waiting for the automated voice on the Maps app to chime the next turn.  


* * *

 

“You have reached your destination,” bemoaned Hanayo’s phone, before finally blinking into sleep as they pulled up to a white house with a shocking blue roof.

“Welcome to the Printemps Palace,” Hanayo giggled, undoing her seatbelt.

“I didn’t think you meant an actual house,” Nozomi said, though in hindsight it kind of made sense. She wasn’t sure where she imagined Hanayo would live, but now that she sees it she can’t picture anything else. The garden is small, but well maintained, with two small flowerboxes beside the front step and a small hedge running around the property. The word ‘cottage’ would have sprung to mind if the house were a little smaller, and not filled with the sounds of a high pitched voice shouting ‘Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!’ in it’s lowest register.

Hanayo steps up to the door comfortably, barely hesitating as she rings the doorbell twice in rapid succession, rooting around in her purse for… something.

“It always takes me so long to find my keys, sometimes it’s faster to just ring the doorbell,” the brunette explains, seemingly reading her companion’s mind. Nozomi nodded, looking out across the dark lawn. It was a fairly typical suburban neighbourhood, clean and well kept. Nozomi could spot at least 3 SUV’s without even turning her head.

The sound of a lock heavily clicking drew Nozomi’s attention just as light spilled out onto the doorway, momentarily blinding her to the figure standing in the doorway silently.

It was a woman, older looking than Hanayo but younger than Nozomi, with ginger hair and a strange smile on her face. She seemed frozen in the doorway, staring at Nozomi with a look of confusion.

“Uh, hi--” as suddenly as it came, the woman slammed the door shut, the door clicking and footsteps quickly departing from the other side of the wooden frame.

“Honoka-senpai?!” Hanayo cried indignantly, ringing the doorbell repeatedly, nose scrunched.

_‘Adorable,’_ Nozomi thought, barely, before the door opened again. It was the same woman - this ‘Honoka’ - this time with a crudely cut out felt moustache stuck above her upper lip.

“Uuuh--” the sound Nozomi let out was honestly the only sound she could make that wasn’t an uproarious laugh, but thankfully the woman (?) in the doorway interrupted her.

“Who are you and what are you doing with my daughter?” The ginger-haired woman asked, putting on a deep voice and frowning intensely. With one hand on the door and the other on the frame, she effectively blocked entrance to the house, she ducked her head out, trying to peek around the tall, tattooed woman.   
  
“Where’s my son in law?”

“Your _what_?” Hanayo squeaked. Honoka crossed her arms, tilting her head back and making an attempt at intimidating eye contact with Nozomi, who was honestly giving it her all not to burst out laughing.

_Ka-chick._

Nozomi raised her brows as she tilted her head around the slightly shorter woman (who let out an indignant yell) to see an ash-haired woman peeking out a doorway at the end of the hall, phone camera peeking around the doorframe. She was wearing a plain white shirt, with ‘#justiceforshanique’ painted badly on the front.  


“Okay, hold up!” Hanayo shouts, waving her arms in the air.  
  
“Let’s just…” she sighs.  
  
“Who wants some tea?”

 

* * *

 

“So,” Honoka drawled, spooning an ungodly amount of sugar into her tea, “you’re a shapeshifter.”

“What?!” Nozomi squawked, nearly choking on her own tea.

“Honoka-senpai, no!” Hanayo sighed from her spot next to Nozomi on the couch, rubbing a hand over her face.  
  
“This is Nozomi-senpai. From the store?”

From the couch across the coffee table, Honoka and Kotori shared a long, conspiratorial look before turning back to the tattooed woman and emitting a unified, “ooooh, _Nozomi-senpai._ ” The woman in question felt a sudden desire to scooch away from the strange looks on their faces and the knowing glints in their eyes.

“Uuuh, yeah. Hi.”

“We ran into Nozomi-senpai at the restaurant, and since Rin-chan was borrowing her car she decided to drive me home.” Hanayo explained as her roommates nodded along.

“So how did it go?” Kotori asked. She leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees, seemingly eager for gossip.

Hanayo winced slightly, scratching her cheek.  
  
“Yeah, it didn’t go so great. I mean, she’s lovely! And I really hope we can be friends! But we weren’t really, uh, dating material.”

“Ohoho, get wrecked,” Honoka chimed in over the rim of her mug. Kotori shot her a short look before turning back to her youngest roommate.

“That’s too bad, Rin-chan seemed really nice!”

“Rin-chan…” Honoka draws, slowly lowering her tea-cup. Hanayo’s shoulders seize as she practically sees the light die from Honoka’s eyes.   
  
“My son in law…”

“Honoka-chan, they went on one date,” Kotori muttered, draining the rest of her tea and putting down her mug, taking Honoka’s before she could drop it.   
  
In turn, Honoka dramatically flailed onto the couch, one arm thrown over her eyes.

Hanayo took Honoka’s momentary distraction to usher Nozomi into the hallway and towards the door.

“I’m so sorry about this,” she muttered, “but once Honoka-senpai gets tied up on something like this it takes, like, an hour to calm her down, you don’t want to be here for that.”

“I actually kinda do,” Nozomi blurted, making no moves to stop Hanayo’s steady hands on her back pushing her towards the door.

Hanayo snorted. “Go home, Nozomi-senpai. I’ll see you on my next shift.”  
  
Nozomi glanced back over her shoulder and smirked, nodding her acceptance and stopping to let Hanayo unlock the door.

 

* * *

 

The drive home was not long at all. Nozomi parked in her usual spot and scuffed her feet back into the apartment. Judging by the time, she was sure that Rin and Umi would definitely be asleep. She made a mental note to check on Rin the following morning.  
  
The last hour spent in the ‘Printemps Palace’ was certainly a wild ride. None of the girls who lived there seemed to have a bad bone in their bodies, and the colourful interior of the place was a surprisingly nice change from the grey, white and green colour scheme of the Lily White Apartments.  
  
Climbing the stairs to her room, Nozomi took off her jacket and bit her lip. Taking the paper Kotori had given her out of her pocket, she placed it on her desk. The paper had a name, email address and phone number scribbled in a bright pink gel pen. There was also a little emoji doodled next to her name.  
  
_‘Kotori-chan seems nice,’_ Nozomi thought, taking off her jacket and hoodie. Kotori was a kind, slightly quirky girl, and Nozomi could absolutely be friend with her.  
  
Honoka, on the other hand...  
  
_‘What planet is she from?’_ Nozomi furrowed her brow. Honoka’s breakdown was hard to believe, but Nozomi _was_ there. Despite Honoka’s obscurities, she seemed like a genuine girl, too...who was screaming  _‘MY SON-IN-LAW IS A SON-IN-NO-MORE’_ when Nozomi walked to her car.  
  
And of course, there was Hanayo.  
  
Dear, sweet, little Hanayo. She was so lovely, and incredibly pure, but ever so shy. There was just something about her that made Nozomi’s heart flutter whenever she saw her - her own personal ray of sunshine.  
  
Nozomi felt a stupid grin curl onto her face, she must look like a dazed idiot to the outside world, but what could she do?  
  
Dropping Hanayo off and meeting her housemates seemed to kick something to life in her stomach: a feeling...a strange feeling was chugging away at full steam.  
  
_‘What the-’_ she thought, stupid grin fading at once. She lifted up a hand, taking her hair out of her twin tails and letting the tresses hang loose. With a clutch at her stomach, she lay down on her bed and blinked a few times.  
  
The last time she had felt like this, it had been years ago, when she first realised…  
  
_‘Oh…’  
_   
It hit her. Hard. Like someone had just punched her square in the jaw with brass knuckles. Nozomi recognized the feeling, and her blood ran cold.  
  
Nozomi was so close to letting herself go, just to fall into the feeling and let it consume her. But, there was something stopping her.  
  
_‘You can’t feel this yet.’_  
  
Nozomi’s eyes snapped open, and she scratched at her stomach. She knew the feeling would roar in her stomach and eat away at her insides if she ignored it.  
  
But before she tackled that emotion, she needed to deal with the old emotion in her stomach.  
  
‘Elichi…’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's make #justiceforshanique a thing. Pls.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nozomi has some issues and a goddess graces us with her presence.

“Y-You’ve grown up so fast, Hanayo-chan,” Mimorin sniffled, holding a tissue to her nose. Hanayo really didn’t see why Mimorin was crying as the three employees stood in the backroom.  
  
Kussun had been called out to help with another stocktake (this time, though, it was with their neighbour store in Kanda,) so the manager had called in Hanayo to help Mimorin and Nozomi out.  
  
But it was a rather special day for the young employee. It had officially been two months since she had started working at EZ. To commemorate the occasion, and as an official ‘welcome,’ it was time for Hanayo to get a rather prized item: the polo shirt.  
  
It wasn’t flashy: a simple navy blue polo with the company name in white and orange on the right side. The sleeves were lined with white, and on the back was the logo again, followed by the company website.  
  
“I remember when you just started working!”  
  
“Oh, thanks Mimorin-senpai,”  
  
“You were so little and adorable!”  
  
“Mimorin, do us a favour and zip it,” Nozomi circled Hanayo like a shark. Hanayo had to get a polo that would obviously fit her, but she didn’t understand why both of her senpais were standing with her in the backroom. Nozomi had a tape measure in her hands, while Mimorin had the store clipboard with a pen ready.  
  
“Hanayo, I’d honestly recommend we get you a custom sized polo. Y’know, for comfort and all that,” Nozomi stopped her circling and stood in front of the brunette with a fire in her eye that Hanayo had never seen before. The only time there seemed to be any vibrant emotions from Nozomi was when it was time to close the store, other than that, she remained rather lax.  
  
Nozomi’s suggestion was not something Hanayo was going to turn down anytime soon.

 

-  
  
  
“That sounds great, Nozomi-senpai,”  
  
_‘Holy shit, it actually worked,’_ Nozomi thought as she made a motion for Hanayo to lift up her arms.  
  
“Now, just...um...stand still,” Nozomi muttered. She was used to be put into awkward situations, but when it came to Hanayo…  
  
“Like this?” Hanayo stretched her arms out even further, making her white shirt rise up slightly to reveal her midriff.  
  
_‘Don’t look down, do NOT look down’_ Nozomi thought to herself over and over again as she measure the arm length quickly and quietly. Mimorin noted down the measurements that Nozomi said outloud. It didn’t take them long, but Mimorin noticed that there was a customer in the store.  
  
“Duty calls! If you need me, just send out the Mimo-signal!”  
  
“Just go,” Nozomi flatly said as Mimorin skipped out of the store.   
  
It was just Nozomi and Hanayo left in the backroom, accompanied muffled sounds of that godforsaken DVD pounded against the walls.  
  
“U-Um, so the last thing to measure is th-”  
  
“Bust.”  
  
“Y-Yeah,” Nozomi averted her eyes and bit her cheek awkwardly.  
  
How ironic, that Nozomi - the girl who _loved_ breasts - was nervous measuring Hanayo’s. The first day Mimorin had worked at the store, Nozomi had given her a washi washi for messing up a trade transaction. Whenever Maki ticked her off - you guessed it - washi washi. Hell, even when Eli and her were having some frisky fun, and Eli bit her too hard: washi washi.  
  
_‘But you’re NOT giving her the washi washi, dumbass,’_ Nozomi thought to herself, feeling sweat bead on her forehead.  
  
“Okay, Hanayo, let’s do this. Please lift up your arms,” Nozomi snapped the measuring tape straight as Hanayo did as she was told.  
  
_‘Breathe, you’re not even going to_ touch _them!’_ The older employee placed the tape around Hanayo’s back, and slowly but shakily, brought it to the front.  
  
_‘My god, they’re_ HUGE!’ Nozomi’s eyebrows shot into her bangs as she read the measurement: 82cm.  
  
“Hanayo, are these real?” Nozomi was in awe of the funbags in front of her.  
  
“Y-yes, they are?” Hanayo’s confused tone suddenly turned into a squeak as Nozomi’s hands flew forward to feel them.  
  
“Holy shit, they _are!_ ” Nozomi’s grip tightened and loosened at the soft sensation of the skin.  
  
“N-Nozomi-senpai?!” Hanayo squeaked at the repetitive motion as a wicked grin curled onto her face.  
  
“Now now, Panachi, let me have some fun.”  
  
What on _earth_ had possessed her to say that?! Instantly, Nozomi snapped up and released Hanayo from her claws. Once Nozomi was released from her trance, Hanayo quickly escaped her loose clutches.  
  
The two stared at each other, mouths agape and eyes wide.  
  
_‘Panachi? REALLY?!”_ Nozomi mentally kicked herself, watching Hanayo clutch to herself and shake.  
  
“D-Did you get the measurement?” Her tiny voice entered the atmosphere, and smacked Nozomi out of her daze. The tattooed employee looked down at her measuring tape, and since her throat was too dry to talk, just nodded in response.  
  
“I’ll...fill out the form and get the shirt sent to you…” Nozomi’s voice upon coming back was just as tiny as Hanayo’s.  
  
“My oh my, Nozoomzoom, are you _flustered_ from Hanayo-chan’s lady parts?”  
  
Mimorin was leaning against the door, a plastic bag in her hands and a smirk on her face. With twinkling eyes, she winked at the other employee, who had turned a bright red and frowned.  
  
“S-Stop it, Mimorin.”  
  
“You can’t _ever_ hide your shame from me, Nozzy Osbourne,” Mimorin tapped her finger lightly on Nozomi’s nose as she passed through the back room to dispose of the bag that contained a freshly traded Xbox 360 inside.  
  
“After all,” Mimorin turned around and struck a stupid pose that made Hanayo chuckled.  
  
“I am Commander Suzuko! Overseer of EB Akiba!”  
  
“For the love of all things good and pure... _”_ Nozomi's voice trailed off into nothingness, so she hurried of the room herself and slammed the door behind her.  
  
She quickly threw on her synthetic smile and opened up a transaction for a customer, trying her best to shove the incident out of her memory.  
  
_‘Panachi...what the actual_ fuck, _’_ Nozomi wondered, robotically serving the customer and letting her mouth run about trade talk and preorders.

-

Hanayo stood in the back room, her arms around herself as she shivered. She wasn’t cold, it was just the touch of Nozomi that seemed to send her nerves and senses into overdrive. She stared down at her breasts - Nozomi hadn’t hurt her, there were no markings, but it was very sudden. Hanayo didn’t know whether to curl into a ball on the floor and cry, or continue to remember Nozomi’s touch.  
  
Mimori held out her shirt for her and smiled gently. Hanayo took her shirt and slipped it back on as Mimorin spoke, “Hanayo-chan, you know there’s an integrity hotline you can call to get Nozomiitomo fired if she hurt you.”  
  
“Suzuko-senpai!” Hanayo nearly choked on her own breath as she fumbled with the final button on her shirt at what Mimorin had just said.  
  
“It’s not that at all!”

 

* * *

 

The store was shut, and the employees went their separate ways. Mimorin seemed very excited about going to a factory outlet, but Nozomi didn’t really listen. Hanayo had plans to go to some new American restaurant with her roommates. Nozomi’s plans were the usual: go home and either read a new book or kick Rin off the playstation to finish getting the _Dragon Age_ trophies.  
  
She left the shopping centre and took the cigarette that was tucked behind her ear, popping it into her mouth and flicking her zippo into action.  
  
Nozomi, despite what she earnt working for the company, was a cheapskate. She would very rarely buy anything in the store, unless it was of her interest, only paid for her lunch once a week and would only fill up her car with petrol when it was less than a quarter full. This also meant she would _never_ park in the centre, but always a few streets away because she didn’t want to pay the $5-a-day parking staff were offered.  
  
Besides, Nozomi didn’t mind the walk. Being out at night was just that _little_ bit more interesting.  
  
Her Finnish alt-rock faded, and was replaced with her ringtone. Nozomi looked down at her phone, and sighed at the name flashing on the screen. With a groan, she swiped to answer.  
  
“Yeah, Kussun?” She answered and continued her walk, talking through the microphone of her earphones.  
  
“Non-tan, would you care to do me a favour?”  
  
Nozomi raised an eyebrow. She was partial to Kussun’s favours, but tomorrow was Thursday…  
  
“Oh, no,” It clicked with Nozomi instantly. She knew _exactly_ what Kussun was asking.  
  
“Please, Non-tan!” Kussun begged over the phone. Nozomi sped up her walk to the car.  
  
“I’m needed at head office for a manager’s review at 7pm, so if we could _just_ swap shifts-”  
  
“Get Mimorin or Hanayo,” Nozomi saw her car, parked and practically calling for her.  
  
“Mimorin has something on and got Hanayo to cover her shift, and Hanayo can’t close yet, and neither can-”  
  
“Get someone else,”  
  
“Non-tan don’t be like this!”  
  
“It’s late night shopping!”  
  
“It’s no different from any other shift!”  
  
Nozomi unlocked her car and slid into the driver’s seat with another groan.  
  
“Since _when_ do you have manager reviews past business hours at head office?” Nozomi raised her eyebrow, dumping her bag onto the passenger seat next to her.  
  
“Since the new store in Taito opened up and the time slots came into play. _Please_ Non-tan! Just this once.”  
  
“It’s not because of _her?_ ” Nozomi raised an eyebrow.   
  
There was silence, Nozomi had caught Kussun: hook, line and sinker. Nozomi knew the _real_ reason why Kussun wanted to swap shifts.  
  
“N-no, of course not!”  
  
“And I’m a decent human being. The answer is still no,” Sarcasm dripped off Nozomi’s tone.  
  
“Non-tan, do you _want_ to keep working with Hanayo-chan on sundays?”  
  
Nozomi felt her heart stop. Kussun’s silver bullet was locked and loaded. Nozomi clenched her fingers around her phone and shut her eyes. After taking a  long breath through her nostrils, and mumbled a response through gritted teeth.  
  
“Fine.”  
  
“Thank you, Non-tan! I owe you!”  
  
“You owe me a fair bit, Kussun,” Nozomi turned the keys to kickstart her car.  
  
“So, what _does_ Mimorin have on?” Nozomi put on her seatbelt and readied the AUX cord.  
  
“Oh, apparently she’s seeing _Zootopia_ for like the third time.”  
  
“...That is the stupidest excuse I’ve heard out of her in a while,” Nozomi tapped her phone to put Kussun on speaker as she checked her surroundings. The last thing she wanted was to hit someone with her car.  
  
“Hey, whatever Pai-chan wants, Pai-chan gets,” was Kussun’s response before she hung up. Nozomi groaned, and threw her head against the steering wheel, honking the horn with her forehead.

 

* * *

 

Sure enough, come lunch time on Thursday, Nozomi stood out the front of the store. Inside, she saw Hanayo at the counter, serving a small child with a genuine smile. It made Nozomi’s heart skip a beat. Hanayo actually got out from behind the counter and knelt down to hand the plastic bag to the child.  
  
Nozomi smiled - genuinely - at the action. Hanayo was _very_ good with children, and she had the patience of a saint. She didn’t know if the younger employee would soon grow out of this and become aloof like herself, but for now, the purple-haired employee just watched as the child left the store, smiling dumbly and clutching at the bag.  
  
Nozomi walked into the store, taking her headphones out and grinning at the employee that returned to the counter.  
  
“Good afternoon, Nozomi-senpai!” Hanayo gave a small bow, and Nozomi cursed the heat in her cheeks.  
  
“Hey hey,” she responded, taking out her keys and opening the back room. As adorable as Hanayo was, Nozomi needed to take some time to brace herself for the night shift.   
  
Thursday nights, being the night all the shops were open late, would go either two ways: tonnes of people or no people at all. Nozomi was praying for the latter, the less people in the store would do good for the headache she was going to get when her workmate would come in at 4pm.  
  
  
The workmate from hell - hand created by satan himself...or herself...you never know…  


* * *

  


“WOW! You have _SO_ much trade credit here! And with our offer of thirty percent towards a preorder, that’s _forty-five percen_ t!”  
  
Nozomi could feel her eardrums cringe at the volume of the woman’s voice. That smile never faltered as the employee went off on a tangent about _Horizon: Zero Dawn_ . Nozomi didn’t pay any attention, turning to put away the disks from a trade-in earlier into her alpha-alpha draws.  
  
“Hey, Nozomi-chan, are YOU excited for _Horizon: Zero Dawn?!_ ”  
  
Nozomi blinked down, but then shot her head up at her workmate.  
  
“You bet I am, Emitsun,”  
  
“WA-HEY! Everyone is super keen for it! I’ll probably just binge it on my Xbox One, because there’s nothing cooler than a robotic dinosaur! Well, a _real_ dinosaur would be awesome, but I make do with what’s on offer! What about you, Nozomi-chan?”  
  
“I’ll just play it on the PS4,” Nozomi straightened up and smiled at the customers, but in the back of her mind, she was making a silent prayer to a higher power to turn Emitsun’s volume knob down.  
  
One year ago, before Kussun had hired Hanayo, she had hired Emitsun. She was the store’s oldest employee, but had the energy and lungs of a five-year-old with two litres of soft drinks in her stomach. The employee only worked twice a week: Thursday nights and Saturdays, due to her busy schedule and age.  
  
The woman was _not_ a bad person, but she was _loud._ Nozomi could barely hear herself think over the woman’s sonorous voice and booming laugh. She was rather small, but had muscular arms in which her polo shirt hugged in all the right places. Like Hanayo, Emitsun was good with kids, always getting excited along with them about their favourite games and could communicate well with their mothers.  
  
As the customers walked around the store, wondering what to spend their credit on, the phone rang. Emitsun practically dived for it, narrowly missing a collision between her stomach and the counter’s edge.  
  
“Race into EZ Games Akiba and preorder _Gran Turismo 7!_ This is world champion racecar driver Emi!”  
  
_‘And I thought_ Commander Suzuko _was bad,’_ Nozomi’s eye twitched, walking off to the headset bay to fix the display boxes up. Nozomi could _never_ be able to say those kinds of taglines, and believe her, she _did_ try. Who could forget _‘Thedas needs your help, grab_ Dragon Age: Inquisition _at EZ Games Akiba, Inquisitor Nozomi speaking,’_ and the howls of laughter that came from Mimorin when she said it? Nozomi just _couldn’t_ be that level of crazy.  
  
In a way, she envied Emitsun and Mimorin for being able to act goofy in front of customers and on the phone…  
  
“NOZOMI-CHAN!” The dinosaur-esque scream made Nozomi jump out of her thoughts and whirl around to the counter. She saw Emitsun smiling and pointing at the register.  
  
“Could you please serve these lovely people while I do a credit steal?”  
  
Nozomi, clutching at her heart, nodded and walked over to the register, smiling at the customers in front of her.  
  
_‘No one is to know you envy Emitsun._ NO one,’ Nozomi thought to herself.  


* * *

 

Nozomi and Emitsun sprinted for the door as usual, and kicked the metal panels shut. Emitsun, being extremely strong, slammed the pins into the ground and whirled around on one foot.  
  
“Aw YEAH! We’re done! Hi-five!” She raised her hand, and Nozomi couldn’t help but grin and give her the hi-five.  
  
“Wow, Nozomi-chan, that’s like the first time you’ve actually _responded_ to one of my hi-fives!” Emitsun’s surprise made Nozomi chuckle. The tattooed employee hid her worry for the stunt she was about to pull rather well, and once she farewelled Emitsun, she clenched her sweating fists and gulped.  
  
_‘Okay, Nozomi, you got this.’  
_ _  
_ The escalator up to the makeup store seemed to take forever, and Nozomi could feel her heart slamming against her ribcage. Her previous realisation was setting in, and there was no turning back now.  
  
_‘Well, you_ could _just turn back,’_ Nozomi thought to herself as she stepped off the escalator and let out a shaky sigh. She ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath in through her nostrils. Her stomach was swirling into a pit of anxiety asher legs nearly gave out on her.  
  
_‘No, we’re doing this. It’s now or never,’  
_ _  
_ _‘Yeah but we could always do it later,’  
_ _  
_ _‘Stop it, we’re doing it_ now!’ Nozomi stamped her foot down and scowled at herself. It was now or never.  
  
With a few wobbly strides, she reached her destination - _Bibi,_ with it’s glass doors shut and lights dimmed, Nozomi saw a familiar head of blonde hair standing behind the black glossy counter with a white book in front of her.  
  
_‘Yeah, let’s do this later,’_ Nozomi turned on her heel to walk away, but then she froze.  
  
_‘Hey! Don’t you even_ think _about chickening out!’_ she turned back to face the store, and bit her lip. With a noise that was a cross between a whine and a growl, Nozomi took two steps towards the store, but stopped dead in her tracks again.  
  
_‘You can’t do this. Not now, not after a long day,’  
_ _  
_ _‘Stop putting it off! If you don’t talk to Elichi now, you_ never _will!’  
_   
Nozomi continued her static pacing and inner argument for what felt like ages. She didn’t even notice the glass door opening and the blonde hair sticking out with an arched eyebrow.  
  
“Nozomi?”  
  
The woman jumped out of her her thoughts with a little yelp, and locked eyes with Eli. It was as if time stopped. There was no noise, and the dimmed lights didn’t help in the slightest. Both women were frozen, looking each other as if waiting for the other to speak.  
  
“Um…” Eli was the first, fiddling with her black apron, her name is light blue writing on the side.  
  
“What are you doing out here? I thought you didn’t work Thursday nights,”  
  
“I swapped with Kussun,” Nozomi mumbled a response, bringing her knees in awkwardly and her hands behind her back. She took a deep breath in, ignoring the blood roaring in her pierced ears.  
  
“Do you have a minute to talk?” Noomi’s voice was barely audible, but Eli managed to catch it. She nodded, and opened the glass door a bit and stepped back to allow Nozomi entry.   
  
Black boots scuffed against the black, glossy floor of the makeup store. Eli shut the door behind Nozomi and turned to face her with hands behind her back.  
  
“So,” the blonde started. The air swirled with awkwardness while Nozomi gathered her thoughts gingerly.  
  
“So,” Nozomi cleared her throat.  
  
“I have been avoiding you, and that’s not cool on my part, so I’m sorry for that,” she started, and saw Eli’s mouth open. Nozomi quickly raised her hand.  
  
_“But,”_ she continued, and let out a deep breath. The pain she had locked away was seeping through her veins now.  
  
“It wasn’t cool that you tried to change me for your parents.”  
  
Guilt flashed in Eli’s eyes as Nozomi clenched her fists.  
  
“Elichi...When my parents frowned upon me for becoming comfortable in my own skin, you were the only person to not turn their back on me.”  
  
Nozomi shut her eyes.  
  
“You might as well have stabbed me when you told me to change. It hurt...it still does…”  
  
Her breath hitched, and she mentally kicked herself. Nozomi expected herself to not quiver so quickly.  
  
“I’m so sorry, Nozomi,” Eli’s voice was soft, but she sounded in control of her vocal chords.  
  
“I wasn’t thinking properly, but you have to understand-”  
  
“What is there to understand?” Nozomi shot back, her voice breaking and eyes flying open. All of her self-control had gone right out of the store’s expensive glass windows.  
  
“Your parents _hated_ me...Anyone could see that, and you just sat there trying to get the Miss Congeniality crown with the shit you pulled! You didn’t even _listen_ to me!”  
  
Eli felt silent, and gazed at the floor while she awkwardly twirled at the hem of her makeup apron.  
  
“Do you have any idea how much it hurt to sit at your parent’s house, completely covered up with them staring daggers at you?” Nozomi’s threw a hand to her chest and clutched at it.  
  
“I didn’t have anyone else but you...You were my everything, and you didn’t do anything.”  
  
“That’s a lie!” Eli snapped, shooting up to meet Nozomi’s gaze.  
  
“I tried to get them to look past everything! I tried to make them see the reasons as to why I loved you! You know what they’re like!”  
  
“Then where were you when they called me a criminal?! A delinquent?! A good-for-nothing _punk?!_ ” Nozomi raised her voice to match Eli’s. Both were lucky the shopping centre was pretty much deserted. Both girls had lost any sort of control, and just continued to snap at each other.  
  
“They never called you those things directly!”  
  
“You think I can’t hear what happens in another room of your house?! How do you think it makes me feel?!”  
  
“You were eavesdropping?! That’s so rude, I can’t believe you!”  
  
“It’s kind of hard to _not_ eavesdrop when you and your father are in a room right in front of me!”  
  
“So first you eavesdrop, and then you keep making a fuss about wearing a sweater?! Mature, Nozomi!”  
  
“Oh, you’re going to pull _that_ card?! _You_ were the one who kept making a fuss, Eli!” Nozomi dropped the nickname as the blonde’s ears started to turn red.  
  
“Are you serious?! All I asked was you just cover your arms and watch your mouth! How is that making a fuss?!”  
  
“You tried to change me! You stopped me from being comfortable in my own skin!”  
  
“You still _were!_ You just had a long shirt on! What the hell is wrong with you, anyway?! Why did you kick up such a shitfight about not wanting to change and yet you still did?!”  
  
“I DID IT FOR YOU!” Nozomi stomped her foot as tears ruined her eyeliner. Through the watery blur, she could make out Eli’s shocked face.  
  
“For you, Eli...F-For you…” Both girls stared at each other, mouths open and breathing heavily. The golden strands of Eli’s hair was dampened slightly with sweat as Nozomi’s smudged eyeliner continued to roll down her cheeks with her tears.  
  
“Like you tried to pull that shit of making me and your parents happy, I also tried for you.”  
  
Nozomi rubbed her left arm up and down and blinked back more tears.  
  
“I am not some birthmark you can cover up and forget is there, Eli. It _stung_ when I was in the same room as them...I could only handle so much of them…”  
  
She looked up, and a dark grin playing at the corners of her mouth, “But hey, I did it for you.”  
  
Eli’s breath hitched, and she placed a hand to her chest. “Nozomi…”  
  
Silence was in the air for a bit as the two continue to stare at each other.  
  
“I understand that what I did wasn’t fair on you, and it was incredibly wrong for my parents to try and make me choose.”  
  
Nozomi’s own breath hitched. Just hearing Eli admit the truth was like a breath of fresh air.  
  
“I know that it was just the worst thing to do, and I am so, so sorry for it,” Eli grit her teeth, visibly holding back tears. Nozomi let out a shaky sigh, and threw her head back,  
  
“Thank you for saying that, Elichi,” she smiled, using the back of her hand to try and clean up the tracks of tears and eyeliner. Eli reached into her makeup apron, and pulled out a packet of wipes.  
  
“Here,” she took one out and walked forward to help clean up the other girl. She lightly wiped away the makeup and tears, and Nozomi noticed the caution she was taking.  
  
“I’m sorry as well...I’m sorry for not trying to be more polite with your parents. I should have watched my mouth,” Nozomi tilted her head to allow Eli access to her jawline.  
  
“Thanks for saying that, Nozomi,” Eli folded the wipe to get all the mess of of the jawline and neck.  
  
“But I’m also sorry for my parents. Their behaviour was completely uncalled f-oops!”  
  
Her nimble fingers dropped the wipe into Nozomi’s shirt. The latter chuckled, and pulled it out, along with the lighter as a natural habit. Eli’s eyes widened as the zippo came into sight.  
  
“You...You kept it?”  
  
Nozomi nodded, tucking the lighter back into her shirt and quirked a grin.  
  
“Of course, it’s the only lighter that actually works.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh ma lawd that was Nozzy Nozzy Nozzy central! Dw fam, we're gonna throw the biggest Pana-cotta party in the coming chapters, so everyone bring a party hat.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May the lord have mercy on Hanayo's soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S TIME FOR A PANA PARTY DID YOU BRING YOU PARTY HAT????

 

Hanayo handed in her assignment via the online system with a sigh of relief. Who knew university assignments would take so much time? She flopped back into her chair and stared at the ceiling. It was over, thank goodness! What would she do to celebrate? There were so many options. She could perhaps go downstairs and start a party to _A-Rise’s_ new single with Kotori and Honoka, or maybe she could finish off that _Netflix_ series? She settled for the latter, and got up a new browser page. Hanayo was just about to type in the web address, but her phone beside her vibrated. The screen didn’t light up, so it must have been an email alert. Hanayo opened up another browser and clicked on her _gmail_ bookmark.

 _To:_ [ _KoizumiPana@gmail.co.jp_ _  
_ ](mailto:KoizumiPana@gmail.co.jp) _From:_ [ _Kusuda.Aina@ezgames.co.jp_ _  
_ ](mailto:Kusuda.Aina@ezgames.co.jp) _Subject: Next week_ _  
  
_

_Dear Team,_

_First off, well done with all of your KPI’s! Everyone is getting that WOW factor!_ _(≧∀≦●)／_ _  
_ _  
_ _Second, it’s Vendors week! It’s the three day event where managers get together to improve our store and tour the warehouse! I’m taking Non-tan with me, since we won the trade-in competition! (Good job on that too!) During this time, Mimo-chan will be in charge. Stay focused, Mimo-chan! (^._.^)ﾉ_ _  
_ _  
_ _We’re leaving on Monday, and will be back on Friday. However I will need to leave earlier so I'll be back in town around lunchtime, and Non-tan will come around 3pm. To give you girls a hand, I will be giving my keys to my good friend and ASM of the Kanda Matsunagacho Store, Soramaru! Since Emitsun is too busy with her other activities, Non-tan will be giving her keys to Hanayo-chan! (Don’t worry Hanayo-chan, you won’t ever be alone in the store, one of the other girls will be with you at all times. Think of it as… safe key-ping  ^^)_ _  
_ _  
_ _So, here’s the roster for while we’re away:_

 _Sunday: Nozomi (10-5) Hanayo (12-5)_ _  
_ _Monday: Mimorin (9-6) Hanayo (9-6) *Heads up, Soramaru will come in around the afternoon to pick up my keys, which will be in the safe._ _  
_ _Tuesday: Soramaru (9-6) Emitsun (1-6)_ _  
_ _Wednesday Soramaru (9-6) Mimorin (1-6)_ _  
_ _Thursday: Soramaru (9-6) Emitsun (9-2) Mimorin (12-9) Hanayo ( 4-9)  
_ _Friday: Soramaru (9-6) Kussun (1-6)  
_ _Saturday: Kussun (9-6) Emitsun (9-6)_

_After friday, the roster will go back to normal. If you ladies have any problems with anything, feel free to ask Sora :3_

_See you in a week!  
_ __\- Kussun_ _

Hanayo read the email three times over, just to make sure she wasn’t going crazy. Did Kussun _really_ say Nozomi was going to give her the very set of keys that Nozomi used? Being knighted by the queen paled in comparison to this, that’s for sure.

Hanayo looked up from her laptop and bit her lip. Surely this was a joke, Kussun wouldn’t be trusting Hanayo with keys to the store - she hadn’t even been there for a whole four months! She looked down and re-read the email for the fourth time. It was true...she was getting Nozomi’s keys while the latter was away.  
  
A panic attack could not have come sooner. She flattened her palms on the table and focused on her breathing. This was happening, it was really happening.  
  
_‘Okay Hanayo, just relax, it’s only for...what...a week? Yeah! One week...with Nozomi-senpai’s keys...being in the store with them…’_  

* * *

 

Sunday flew by so quickly, that Hanayo barely even realised she had just worked for five hours. She was just finished up stickering her trades while Nozomi finalized the giant boxes out back, which contained one collector’s edition of _Mirror’s Edge_ each. They were _huge,_ and when the older employee emerged from the backroom, she sounded like she had just been lifting weights all day.  
  
“Alrighty,” she glanced at the clock on the screen, and grinned at Hanayo.  
  
“I reckon you can leave the stickering for now. Would you mind vacuuming while I cash up? Then we’re out of here.”  
  
“Leave them?” Hanayo blinked in confusion. What did her senpai mean? Nozomi’s grin curled even more while she pressed some buttons to close down the second register.  
  
“Well, you’re working tomorrow with Mimorin. You can just leave them to do tomorrow if you like? It means we can get out of here quicker.”  
  
Hanayo bit her lip, but Nozomi winked at her and placed a finger to her own lips, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Kussun. If you want to finish them now, then go for it.”  
  
Hanayo adjusted her glasses, and looked down at her pile of ten games. The disks themselves were already in the drawers behind her, and the cases just needed sale stickers. She tucked a strand of brown hair tinged with pink behind her ear and took in a deep breath. She knew Nozomi was just offering an alternative.   
  
In the end, Hanayo left half of the cases for stickering and did the other half. She then vacuumed while Nozomi closed the registers and blasted her music. Hanayo caught herself humming[ the song by The All-American Rejects](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7ua9Pchano) while she slipped on her jumper.  
  
“It’s a catchy song, hey?” Nozomi pulled over her black knitted sweater, then made to put on her jacket.  
  
“Yeah, it reminds me of _The Sims_ ,” Hanayo spoke absentmindedly, and blushed at the giggle that came from Nozomi, who was slipping the sunglasses onto her head.  
  
“Is that so?”  
  
“Yeah, especially the university expansion pack,” Hanayo walked out of the backroom as Nozomi hummed in thought.  
  
“I guess it does have that ‘American college movie’ vibe,” Nozomi mused while Hanayo adjusted her jumper. She picked up the garbage bags and trotted out of the store, biting in her natural panic when Nozomi switched the lights off.  
  
She waited with the metal shutters open slightly for Nozomi to come sprinting out of the store after setting the alarm, and winced at the loud clashing of metal against the wall after Nozomi kicked the grates shut and pinned them into the ground.  
  
“Phew,” she leaned her forehead against the metal, sunglasses clicking against them. Realisation dawned on her face, and she turned to look at Hanayo while reaching into her jacket’s pockets.  
  
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” she pulled out the checkered lanyard with an _Arctic Monkeys_ keychain and dangled it in front of Hanayo.  
  
“You’ll be needing these.”  
  
Violet eyes widened at the set of keys that dangled in front of her face. Hanayo was certain that she was becoming hypnotised by the glistening keys. She noticed that there was only one difference between Nozomi’s keys and the store keys was that Nozomi had one extra. It was shorter and had a longer handle.  
  
“You okay there?” Nozomi grinned wryly, snapping Hanayo out of her little trance. The younger girl nodded furiously and gulped.  
  
“Yes! I’ll take care of them like my first born child!”  
  
“They’re just keys, but okay. Just don’t lose them, or you’ll have to pay for the lock replacement and cutting of new keys.”  
  
Hanayo felt her stomach drop. She really _would_ have to be very careful with the keys. Nozomi explained to her that the extra one was for the door, and the other two were just the usual drawer key and backdoor key (which was highlighted in purple.)  
  
“If you’re ever here before Mimorin, which I don’t doubt you will be,” Nozomi sniggered and brought the door key next to the lock and made a twisting motion.  
  
“Turn it to the right, then throw the thing open and sprint to the backroom. Get the backroom key ready, and unlock it. You’ll have ten seconds to put the code in to deactivate the alarm, which as you know by now is the last four digits of Kussun’s phone number. Punch in the numbers and hit the little green button below, then take a second to breathe. Okay?”  
  
Hanayo nodded, mentally making notes in her head so that she could write down the instructions in her notebook when she got home. Nozomi hung the keys out in front of Hanayo again, who froze completely.  
  
“Take ‘em, they’re yours until Sunday,”  
  
Hanayo gasped and shoved her hand out so quickly, it was like something out of _Rocky._ Nozomi chuckled and dropped the keys into her outstretched palm.  
  
Hanayo felt a surge of power and responsibility flow through her veins the second the keys landed. She curled her fingers around them and gulped again.  
  
“I promise you Nozomi-senpai, I will guard them with my life,” the glint of determination and seriousness in her eyes made Nozomi’s eyebrow arch.  
  
“O-Okay then,” a blush tinged at Nozomi’s cheeks as Hanayo put the keys into the front pocket of her floral backpack. When the latter had straightened up, the two fell into an awkward silence. Nozomi rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet her downcast her gaze.  
  
“I guess I’ll...see you later, then.”  
  
“Y-Yeah,” Hanayo’s voice was smaller than Nozomi’s as she clutched at her bag’s straps.  
  
“Please take care of yourself and come back safely,”  
  
Nozomi couldn’t help but let out a laugh at Hanayo’s words. She took out the cigarette from behind her ear and fiddled with it.  
  
“Hanayo, I’m just going to a conference, not off to war.”  
  
“I know but-” Hanayo caught herself and looked away. She really _did_ sound like she was sending Nozomi off the war. She clutched at her chest and looked up into Nozomi’s face.  
  
“Just...be careful…warehouses can be dangerous.”  
  
Nozomi gave her a full smile, a _genuine_ smile that radiated as she folded her arms.  
  
“Don’t you worry, Panachi, the cards told me I will be safe,” she winked, and Hanayo bit her lip.   
  
"Are you  _sure_ about that?" It wasn't that she didn't trust her senpai's cards, it was the fact that a warehouse full of young store managers was surely a recipe for disaster.   
  
Nozomi pulled out her deck from her satchel and took out a card from the top: The Sun.  
  
"It'll be a positive experience, and I will return home safely," Nozomi let Hanayo look at the card, eyes twinkling with reassurance.   
  
When Hanayo was convinced that Nozomi would not perish on her work trip, the two made their way towards the automatic glass doors of the shopping centre. Hanayo only told Nozomi today that she also drove to work, but she paid the five-dollars-a-day staff parking offer.  
  
“By the way, Nozomi-senpai,” Hanayo stopped in front of the elevator and pressed the button to call it.  
  
“What is it?”  
  
“What is...What is Sora-senpai like?” Hanayo asked, getting Nozomi to look up in thought.  
  
“Well, she’s...something, that’s for sure,” Nozomi answered with a half shrug. Hanayo looked puzzled.  
  
“She’s nice, don’t worry. You might just...want to take some panadol with you this week.”

* * *

On Mondays, Hanayo was used to getting to the shopping centre at around 11:30. She was used to walking into the store to see Nozomi either behind the counter or rearranging something. The older girl would always greet Hanayo with a cheeky smile, and flung her keys at her to allow access to the backroom.

But today, Nozomi wasn’t there.  
  
Hanayo checked the email for the umpteenth time: she’d be working with Mimorin today. Of course, Hanayo had nothing against Mimorin - on the contrary, Mimorin was probably Hanayo’s second favourite person to work with (the first being Nozomi.) Hanayo was just worried that Mimorin wouldn’t get to the store in time to open the store. All she could do was sit on the table in the food court, opposite the store, and twiddle her thumbs until her senpai arrived.  
  
_‘Wait...no I don’t,’_ Hanayo shoved her hand into her backpack that was sitting next to her and pulled out the checkered lanyard. It dawned on Hanayo that she had the capability to open the store herself. With a jolt of sudden adrenaline, she got to her feet and swung her backpack on. A few strides and she was at the metal shutters.  
  
Instantly, the fear set in. This was her first time opening the doors. She remembered the way Nozomi would briskly shove her keys into the door, hurry to the backroom, open that door too, and punch in the alarm with the speed of some karate master.  
  
_‘If I’m going to do this, I need to be very fast,’_ Hanayo bit her lip, her fingers trembling around the metal keys.  
  
“Okay, do it on three,” Hanayo took a deep breath, and counted up to three in her head, trying her best to steel her nerves.  
  
When she hit three, she shoved the key into the lock, and twisted it to the right. The metal pins retracted with a loud ‘clack,’ and Hanayo swung the door open in a fluid movement.  
  
_‘Okay, door’s open, now RUN!’_ Hanayo yanked the keys out of the lock and sprinted to the backroom, her fingers curled tightly on the keys. She shifted them to make sure that the highlighted key was ready to do it’s job. She stopped in front of the door and thrusted the key into the lock, and turned it quickly.  
  
_‘Back room door open, now to punch in the alarm,’_ Hanayo faced the alarm, milliseconds ticking down in her head, and raised a shaky finger to the dial pad that was the alarm. She punched in the four numbers, and then slammed the green button.  
  
A few seconds of silence later, and Hanayo let out a long, shaky sigh. She had done it. She was in the store, and didn’t set the alarm off.  
  
“I did it...I _really_ did it…” she couldn’t help but grin with pride, and straightened up with a spring in her step.

* * *

 

Checking her watch, it was 8:40am. Hanayo instantly got ready for work, sliding off her jacket and straightening out her polo. She headed out onto the shop floor, Nozomi’s keys tied around her wrist, just like how Nozomi did. She felt confident, and the spring in her step stayed. However, she wondered how Nozomi was able to keep the keys tied onto her wrist. The metal was rubbing against her skin awkwardly.  
  
As Hanayo doubled back to the door, realising she hadn’t turned on the lights to the store, a cheerful greeting sounded from the shop’s entrance.  
  
“Hanayo-chan!” Mimorin bounced into the store, her keys jingling around her neck and an infectious grin on her face.  
  
“Good morning, Suzuko-senpai,” Hanayo bowed respectfully, then straightened up to watch Mimorin hit  button on the main register’s keyboard. The computer turned itself off, then back on instantly.  
  
“Did you open the store by yourself? Wow! You really _have_ grown up so fast!”  
  
“I just opened the doors, senpai,” Hanayo’s sheepish reply came with her retracting into herself. Mimorin then skipped into the back room, ripping off her coat and letting out a happy sigh. Hanayo peered at the register, noticing that the desktop was now full of a lot of pop-up screens that were scrolling through a heap of codes.  
  
“Suzuko-senpai, what did you do?” Hanayo trotted after Mimorin, and caught sight of the older woman taking off her jacket and tying back her brown hair into a ponytail.  
  
“Huh?” Mimorin turned around with a blink. Hanayo pointed out onto the floor.  
  
“The register...what did you do?”  
  
“I turned it on.”  
  
“But it was already on?”  
  
Mimorin straightened up and slapped her name tag on. She left the backroom and took Hanayo’s hand to lead her towards the register. The screen was still full of popups.  
  
“To turn on the register, just hit enter,” Mimorin pointed to the key. Hanayo nodded, and felt a sudden urge to get out her notebook and write down what she had just learned.

* * *

Four hours into her shift, and Hanayo’s feet were starting to hurt. How did Mimorin do it? She was bouncing around the place, fixing up the shelves and humming a very catchy tune. Hanayo continued to wonder what the source of Mimorin’s energy was while she collected games from the drawers for a rather large item transfer.

When a customer came to the counter, she quickly turned around, and recognized the awful scribbles in the daily planner to be the customer’s name from Nozomi.

“Emi-senpai didn’t give you the code with your console, I see,” Hanayo shook her head, reading the receipt.  
  
“It sh-shouldn’t be a problem to fix, I’ll just need to go get your c-”  
  
“Emitsuuuuuuuuuuuun,” Mimorin drawled, a whine in her tone. She had bounded over to the counter to look at the receipt.  
  
“You need to include the cooooddeeee,” brown hair fell over the older girl’s shoulder as she dropped her head.  
  
“Hanayo-chan, can you grab the code please? I’ll deal with the console for you. The codes are near the PS4 games out back.”  
  
“Thank you, Suzuko-senpai,” Hanayo bowed, then turned to go out back for the code.  
  
_‘It’s strange how a singular code can affect an entire transaction,’_ She thought to herself, letting her hands to all the work on their own.  
  
_‘Emi-senpai made a mistake? Well, I guess out of all of them, Emi-senpai seems to have the character for it,’_ she thought with a sigh.   
  
When Hanayo reemerged from the back room, Mimorin was going on a tangent about trading in games. The older employee didn’t notice Hanayo slip the code towards her.

Hanayo went back to stickering the cases she had left for herself yesterday while Mimorin finished up the transaction. When the customer left, Mimorin dramatically threw herself on the counter.  
  
“Phew! That was a close one,” she placed a hand to her forehead. Hanayo was about to enquire if Mimorin was okay, but the employee shot up instantly and clapped her hands together.  
  
“And now back to alphabetizing the walls!” She skipped off as if nothing had happened.  
  
Hanayo blinked in confusion, then looked down at the daily planner. She noticed that there was writing that didn’t belong to her inside. There was a mixture of handwriting: neat, block letters, and awful, shaky cursive running writing.  
  
_‘Ah, so the block letters belong to Aina-Senpai, and the...um...chicken scratch is Nozomi-senpai,’_ Hanayo realised she had seen Nozomi write countless times, but never knew what her writing looked liked. Kussun often wrote things in her notebook, so Hanayo was used to her boss’s writing.  
  
There were four things written in the planner:   
  
_Mimorin: Banking_ _  
_ _Hanayo: Stickering_ _  
_ _All: Stock_ _  
_ _Mimorin: Call moon rays_

“Suzuko-senpai?” Hanayo called out her senior, who was fiddling with the PS3 wall again. Mimorin turned around with a smile.  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“U-Uhm,” Hanayo fiddled with her shirt’s hem.  
  
“Have you done banking yet?”  
  
Mimorin blinked, the smile frozen on her face.  
  
“No I haven’t, I was alphabetising the wall.”  
  
“Wouldn’t it make more sense to do that later in the days, since customer will come in and mess it up?”  
  
Mimorin didn’t say anything. Hanayo didn’t know what to feel: Was she being rude? Or right? She awkwardly fiddled with her glasses and looked back down at the planner.  
  
“What’s _Moon Rays_ ?”  
  
“Oh, that’s the postal company we use to send off deliveries. They either go to other stores or back to head office, depending on what it is,” Mimorin tapped her nails against the game cases.  
  
“If it’s a bunch of defective consoles, then we send them to head office. RSB’s, which are regional sales balances, get sent out to st-”  
  
“Have you c-called them yet?” Hanayo already knew all this, except for the company name. Mimorin’s eyebrows flew into her hair.  
  
“N-No?”  
  
“Are you planning on calling them?” Hanayo felt her voice waver slightly. It was weird to question Mimorin like this- she was her senpai, after all.  
  
“...I probably should call them now,” Mimorin stood up from the ground and placed the cases back on the walls.  
  
“Did you want to see how I do it?”  
  
“Y-yes please,” Hanayo curled into herself as Mimorin grinned. She walked over and went onto the ethernet the store used.

* * *

  
Hanayo hoped and prayed she’d _never_ have to call _Moon Rays_ for anything. It was bad enough she had an internal panic attack whenever she answered the store phone.  
  
“If it makes you feel any better, Nozomi _hates_ doing this too,” Mimorin chuckled, writing down the details on a spare piece of paper just in case something went wrong.  
  
“She does?” Hanayo could never imagine Nozomi being uncomfortable on the phone. She knew her senpai’s actions were rather short, but Nozomi always seemed somewhat comfortable in the tasks she did, not matter much she tended to quietly whinge about them.  
  
“Ooooh yeah, she _hates_ this. She also despises alpha counts.”  
  
“Well, they _do_ seem rather tedious,” Hanayo scratched at her cheek while Mimorin highlighted the note in the daily planner to indicate the task done.  
  
“Okie dokie, now I’ll go back to the PS3 w-”  
  
She stopped upon seeing Hanayo with her hands on her hips. A small sigh came from the younger employee.  
  
_‘Just do what Kotori-chan does with Honoka-chan.’_

“Suzuko-senpai, why must you do this to me?”  
  
The guilt was splashed across Mimorin’s face as Hanayo shook her head.  
  
“I thought you were my reliable senpai…”  
  
It was honestly hurting Hanayo more than Mimorin to do this - the latter looked like she was about to burst into tears. Hanayo looked down at her nails and let out another sigh.  
  
“I guess _I_ could go to the bank, b-but I don’t know where it is and I’m a little sc-”  
  
Mimorin instantly turned on her heel and bolted to the back door. Hanayo adjusted her glasses and peered out from behind the counter. Mimorin came out wearing her coat and her bag.  
  
“I can’t be a letdown for you, Hanayo-chan! I’ll be back soon from the bank!”  
  
She dashed out of the store at such a fast speed that Hanayo blinked and her senpai was gone. Chuckling to herself, Hanayo highlighted the banking note in the planner and tried her best to plunge the guilt deep into her stomach to forget about.  
  
_‘Kotori-chan’s mum trick works everytime.’_

 

* * *

 

The rest of the day was quiet. Not much was happening apart from the odd customer here and there. Hanayo was able to finish her stickering quite easily.  
  
When a customer walked in, she widened her smile: a woman with black hair in twin-tails with glasses on had a spring in her step. She was carrying an umbrella that was slightly damp, but was wearing a blue skirt and a short-sleeved black skirt. Upon closer inspection, Hanayo noticed that she had rather defined arm muscles.  
  
“Hello! How are you today?” Hanayo greeted automatically as the woman rested her hip against the counter.  
  
“Heya Hanayo-chan!” The woman’s eyes went straight for the name badge. Hanayo spluttered slightly, no customer had called her by her name before. Mimorin came out of the backroom with a cardboard box. Upon seeing the customer, she instantly dropped it and screamed so loudly that Hanayo jumped in terror.  
  
“S-Suzuko-senpai?!”  
  
Mimorin ran forward and crash tackled the customer with a laugh. The customer hugged back, barely able to keep her balance.  
  
“Mimorin! It’s been too long!”  
  
“Far too long! Oh how i’ve missed you!”  
  
“U-Uhm,” Hanayo poked her two first fingers together, and Mimorin let go of the customer.  
  
“Hanayo-chan, this is Soramaru, the assistant manager of Kanda.”  
  
“Oh!” It made sense now, and the name was from the email Kussun had sent. Hanayo instantly bowed deeply, her glasses sliding down her nose.  
  
“It’s an honor to meet you, Soramaru-senpai!”  
  
Soramaru laughed and waved a hand.  
  
“No need for the formalities, Hanayo-chan. Say, would you mind if I called you Pana-chan?”  
  
“Not at all,” Hanayo had never been given _that_ nickname before, and lord knows she had many. It wasn’t anything as special as ‘Panachi,’ but she’ll take it. Anything to stay in her senpai’s good books.  
  
“Looks like we’ll be working together soon, and I can’t wait,” Soramaru smiled at the young employee, then elbowed Mimorin’s side.  
  
“Hey, are you going to let me into the safe? I need Kussun’s grotty keys.”  
  
“Indeed you do,” Mimorin grabbed Soramaru’s arm and led her to the backroom.   
  
Hanayo watched the go, a million thoughts flying through her mind. She was the assistant manager? What made her different from the manager? How long had she worked here? What was her store like? Did she go to university before taking up this job? How did she perform transactions? What was her handwriting like? If Hanayo did something wrong, would she fire her?  
  
The employee shook her head at the last one.   
  
_‘You will NOT get fired under working with Soramaru-senpai!’_ Hanayo had to remind herself as Soramaru and Mimorin rounded the corner. The shorter woman was putting the lanyard with keys into her bag.  
  
“Is the alarm code still the same?”  
  
“Last four digits of Kussun’s phone number.”  
  
“Sweet, and the safe?”  
  
“Same as always. None of us know how to change that thing’s code anyway,” Mimorin’s blunt answer made Soramaru snort.  
  
“Okay cool, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Mimorin,” she hugged the other employee tightly, and then turned to bow to Pana.  
  
“I look forward to working with you on Thursday, Pana-chan”  
  
“Likewise!” Hanayo threw herself into a bow. Soramaru seemed liked a pretty cool and reliable senpai, so what could _possibly_ go wrong?


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People are weird and Pana is to smol for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello all, I (kayo-chin) have finally returned from beyond the grave to save dvalkyrie's soul.

_Tojo Nozomi accepted your friend request_

**Minami Kotori:** Hey Nozomi-san! Remember me? I’m Kayo-chan’s housemate!  
  
**Tojo Nozomi:** Yep, I remember you! ^.^  
  
**Minami Kotori:** =u= Yay! So Kayo-chan told me that you live with Rin-chan????????

 **Tojo Nozomi:** That I do, did you need her number or something? (^u^)  
  
**Minami Kotori:** No no I have it already hahah uwu I was just wondering if you’d like to hang out with me, Honoka-chan and Kayo-chan sometime with Rin-chan??  
  
**Tojo Nozomi:** That sounds like a lot of fun actually!! Can I bring my other housemate? I live with two :3  
  
**Minami Kotori:** Yes plz!! Oooo we could have a party!!  
  
**Tojo Nozomi:** That’d be fun!  
  
**Minami Kotori:** IM SO EXCITED!! What date would work for you? And did you want me to host??  
  
**Tojo Nozomi:** :D I’m also keen!! I’m away on a work trip atm, so friday or the weekend would be fine with me

 **Minami Kotori:** Ooooh a work trip! Sounds fun!  
  
**Tojo Nozomi:** I also live in a rather small flat which, at best, can hold up to five people on a good day.

 **Minami Kotori:** hahah cute! I can host if you like, you've seen the house I live in with Honoka-chan and Kaya-chan we could easily have a party!  
  
**Tojo Nozomi:** Hmmm true...Would it be too much to ask for you to host?  
  
**Minami Kotori:** Not at all!! We love to host parties (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و

 **Tojo Nozomi:** Hahah awesome (^u^)

Kotori smiled at her computer screen. She was currently in her Tuesday morning lecture, but had lost interest. She pulled out her phone and sent quick text to her roommate:

 

 

> **_Honoka-chan, 10:48am_** ** _  
> _ ** _Heeyyy feel like a pillow fort party tonight?_ _(・8・) ♪_

* * *

 

Pillow fort parties weren’t exactly commonplace in the Printemps household - there was far too much work and far too much clean-up involved for them to do it on a regular basis - but it happened often enough that they all know who had which job.

Kotori was chief cook; she made hot chocolates (from scratch!) and sourced all the snacks. On particularly good days she even make melt in your mouth chocolate chip cookies. Honoka sourced blankets and pillows; she emptied every room and cupboard and brought them all to the living area, scattering pillows about the floor while Hanayo did her work; building. The youngest wasn’t necessarily the best builder, but Kotori cooked and Honoka was a collapsing blanket pile waiting to happen, so it was Hanayo’s job to hike up blankets and sheets over various pieces of furniture.

She’d definitely improved since her first attempt, too. She knew to drag the floor lamp in from Kotori’s room as a centre support, expertly tucking and weighing the sheets down so even when someone inevitably fell over, most of the fort would survive. She’d even had time to dig an unopened pack of fairy lights from a long forgotten birthday out of her closet and string them up inside, getting coos of awe from her senpai’s as they crawled inside.  
  
“Kotori-senpai, this is the best hot chocolate you’ve made so far!” Hanayo practically squealed with euphoria when she removed the cup to present a frothy foam moustache on her upper lip. Her senpai giggle, “Thank you Kaya-chan! Or should I say Kaya- _kun_?”

Hanayo quickly licked it away as Honoka stared at the fairy lights, “I didn’t even know we _had_ these.”

“You bought them for someone’s party, remember?” Kotori quickly moved Honoka’s mug away from her knee, sensing a disaster if she didn’t. Hanayo smiled and continued to drink at her hot chocolate before Kotori pulled out her phone.

“Oh, and there was a reason I wanted to have a pillow fort party,”

“Are we having a house meeting?” Hanayo tilted her head to the side as Honoka moved her attention away from the lights and to her housemate.

“I thought house meetings were Saturday nights, not Wednesdays at noon.”

“I know, which is why I decided to make it a fun meeting with a pillow fort party!” Kotori threw her hands out to gesture to their fluffy fort. Honoka instantly smiled, and Hanayo knew that Kotori had the older girl wrapped around her finger instantly.

“So I don’t know if you two know, but I became friends with Nozomi-san on facebook today.”

Hanayo’s stomach did a backflip.

“And she lives with Rin-chan and another housemate, so I thought why don’t we have them over for a little party?”

“Oooh! That sounds _great_ Kotori-chan!”

Hanayo, however, was unsure.

“Kotori-senpai, is this a good idea?” Her voice was small as she curled into herself. As usual, Kotori nodded.

“Yes it is! We haven’t had many people over since the house became more lively, so why not?”

“What if the neighbours complain?” Hanayo was starting to panic.

“Then we’ll turn the music down,” Kotori shrugged.

“What if someone calls the police?” Hanayo countered anxiously,

“I doubt it’ll get _that_ crazy, Kaya-chan,” Kotori was right, but Hanayo’s nerves made her crack with her final cry out against the idea.

“What if I embarrass myself in front of Nozomi-senpai?!”

Welp, there it was. Kotori flashed a wicked grin while Honoka stopped drinking her hot chocolate.

“I don’t think you have to worry about Nozomi-senpai, Kaya-chan,” there was a lilt in her voice that Hanayo did not like. Honoka looked between her housemates, clearly confused.

"What do you mean she doesn’t have to worry? What’s going on?!” Honoka started to worry herself, which only fed Kotori’s mischief.

“Everyone calm down, okay? The party will be fine and Kaya-chan doesn’t have to worry about Nozomi- _senpai_ ,”  the older girl smiled sweetly at Hanayo, but Hanayo knew her senpai too well.

She was planning something, and Hanayo did not like it one bit.

* * *

 **Minami Kotori:** Hey Nozomi-chan! We’re good to go with the party!! ٩(˃̶͈̀௰˂̶͈́)و  
  
**Tojo Nozomi:** Hell yeah! I’m so keen :D What time were you thinking?  
  
**Minami Kotori:** :D :D So I was thinking Friday night around 6pm? Is that okay with u??  
  
**Tojo Nozomi:** Yep it should be okay, my flight lands at 3pm but there's a few things I need to do. Would it be okay if I come a bit later?  
  
**Minami Kotori:** That’s fine with me! It might drive Kaya-chan insane but I think she’ll be okay •̀.̫•́✧  
  
**Tojo Nozomi:** Uhm okay??  
  
**Minami Kotori:** ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
  
**Tojo Nozomi:** ...I don’t like the look of that but anyway I’ll get Umi-chan and Rin-chan to drive over to your place and I will come there later. Sounds like a plan?  
  
**Minami Kotori:** Sounds perfect! Im so excited o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

* * *

 

> **Unknown, 9:49am**  
>  Hello Hanayo-chan, this is Maki from _Bibi._ I got Nico to get your number out of Nozomi’s phone, sorry it that’s weird. I was wondering if you were open to have lunch today? My morning shift ends at 2, I thought maybe we could have lunch in the food court?

> **Unknown, 9:51am**  
>  I’m sorry, I don’t know how friend-making works. Also apparently my texts are very long, sorry for that too. Nico says I should send some emoticons to make it more casual but I seriously have no idea how they work.
> 
> **Unknown, 9:54am**  
>  (=^-ω-^=)

> **Unknown, 9:55am**  
>  can u believe she calls them emoticons holy shit (this is nico btw i’m trying to salvage this god awful conversation)
> 
> _Contact saved as Nishikino Maki-chan (sometimes Nico)_
> 
> **Hanayo, 10:08am**  
>  I start work at 4, so a late lunch would be great. (Also, you text very well, don’t let Nico tell you otherwise. Emoji’s are cute though! (⁎˃ᆺ˂) )

* * *

 

Maki was sitting at one of the food court tables near the back wall when Hanayo arrived, frowning down at her phone in intense concentration.

“Nishikino-san!” Hanayo greeted, waiting for Maki to look up before setting down her bag and sitting across from her.

“You can call me Maki, it’s okay,” she said, frowning one final time at her phone before putting in face down on the table.

“Ah… something wrong?” the brunette queried. Maki shook her head fiercely.

“Nothing major, I’m just trying to get the hang of this emoticon thing. I just… what’s the point? What do they add to a conversation?”

“Oh um… sometimes they can add context. It’s hard to get the tone of what you’re saying across in a text, but with an emoji you can let people know you’re being silly, or sarcastic, or you’re a little angry. They’re kind of always considered silly and casual though, you don’t use them when you’re sending a really angry text.” Maki nodded slowly, seeming to take this information in.

“Thanks,” she sighed, “normally Nico just makes fun of me, and I don’t think Eli-senpai knows much more about them than I do.” The redhead took a quick look around the food court, seeming to suss out which line was shortest. “Want to get some food while we talk?”

“Ah, yes, the sooner I eat the better!” Hanayo quipped. After a few awkward moments of trying to get the other person to pick what they ate, they settled via eenie-meenie-minie-moe on a place with a short line selling different curries. They both ended up with a simple beef curry, but Maki popped over to the burger place a few stalls down and pinched some ketchup packets, casually mixing the condiment into her curry.

‘Weird,’ Hanayo thought, ‘but I can’t really judge. We all have weird food preferences.’

Maki seemed to do everything with purpose. Even when she was nervous - which she seemed to be, just a little, - she didn’t fidget like Hanayo was prone to, or stutter over her words. She just stopped until she had something clear to do or say. Her resting face was also a little… intimidating.

“I’m sorry if the text came out of the blue. Also for essentially stealing your phone number.” Maki announced, mixing rice into her tomato-ey beef curry. “I enjoyed talking to you last time, and you seem pretty cool, and I’m still not too sure how friendships just ‘happen’ so I thought I’d just do it the straightforward way.”

Hanayo giggled, giving Maki what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it! If more people were as straightforward as you, the world would be an easier place to live in.” Maki shifted a little in her seat, eyes askance, and.. Was she blushing?

“You really think so?” Hanayo leaned forward and placed a hand over one of Maki’s, the one not holding her chopsticks. “I do think so.”

Maki’s face basically exploded with colour as she turned her head, glaring off at something in the distance with all the bluster of an angry three year old. “Y-you shouldn’t say things like that to just anyone!” The redhead hunched up her shoulders, turning back to her food and furiously shoving it into her mouth.

Hanayo tried her best to hold back a grin, carefully starting in on her own lunch. “Oh! Kotori-senpai is planning a party at our house, I was wondering if you’d like to come? There aren’t a lot of people coming, but Nozomi-senpai and Rin-chan will be there with their roommate. Sonoda-san, I think?” Nozomi exclusively referred to her elusive third housemate as ‘Umi-chan’, but that seemed a bit informal for a person Hanayo had never even met. ‘I hope Sonoda-san is as nice as her roommates.’

Maki finally slowed down, chewing thoughtfully, eyes ascance. ‘Maybe she’s nervous…’

“Oh! You can bring Nico-senpai if you like.” At this, Maki’s face screwed up, fork dropping onto her plate.

“Why on earth would I want to bring Nico?”

“Well, I thought you’d want to bring someone you were comfortable with.”

“Yeah, ‘comfortable’ is one word for it. Why, because we work together?” Maki asked.

“Oh, well, t-that, but I also thought because you two were…” Hanayo trailed off, gesturing with a hand. “You know, you like…” another, more forceful gesture. Maki tilted her head in confusion.

“Roommates?”

“Aah… sure.”

“How did you know we were roommates?”

Hanayo could practically feel the Kill Bill sirens sounding in her head. “Um, Nico told me.”

“Oh.” Maki blinked and went back to her meal. “Blabbermouth.” Hanayo took a deep breath, sighing heavily once Maki looked particularly focused on her curry. ‘Crisis averted.’

“So you’ll come?” she asked nervously.

“Oh yeah, sure. I guess I’ll bring Nico, too. Actually, we might as well all go.” Maki answered.

“All?" queried Hanayo. Maki nodded, carefully patting at her face to clear off the nonexistent mess. “Yeah, Eli lives with us too. Did Nico not mention that?”

“Oh.. Eli-senpai.” Simultaneously, Hanayo’s stomach jumped into her throat and her heart sunk down to her feet. Something about Eli left her feeling nervous and disjointed, like a person she wanted to impress (or avoid making enemies with). Not to mention how Nozomi might feel if the blonde attended, especially if Hanayo didn’t warn her.

“I know it’s like--” Maki made a vague hand gesture and a strange, gruntish noise - “to have her and Nozomi at the same party thing, but I think they’ve finally worked their shit out. Eli doesn’t look like she’s swallowed a lemon every time someone brings up Nozomi anymore. That’s serious progress for her.”

“Then…” Hanayo spun her fork through her rice nervously, “if you think it’s a good idea, I don’t see why not.”

“Excellent,” Maki smirked. “So that’s the Bibi three, Nozomi and her two roommates, and you and your roommate?”

“Room _mates_ ,” Hanayo corrected, “Honoka-senpai and Kotori-senpai.”

“Nice,” hummed Maki, “nine’s a lucky number you know.”

* * *

 

Normally when Hanayo came into the store for a shift, there was something going on. Customers were being served, deliveries were being unboxed, stock counts were being taken - there was rarely a moment where one could sit and do nothing. That said, she’d never been in the store when there were already three other employees there, which alone would make that Thursday an oddity, let alone that her three coworkers were all crowded around a single register, brows drawn in confusion.

“Good afternoon, Pana,” Sora called, eyes never drawing away from the screen. Hanayo stepped into the store slowly, like she was skirting an angry tiger.

“Good afternoon,” she drawled back nervously, “Emi-senpai, didn’t your shift end two hours ago?”

“Mhm,” said woman agreed, eyebrows doing a veritable dance of confusion before her gaze finally darted up to meet Hanayo’s. “Pana-chan, do you know how to turn off auto-discount?”

Hanayo blinked, stilling suddenly. _‘This could be a test,’_ she thought, _‘to see if I’ve been learning. But I can’t think of a single time I’ve ever needed to turn off auto-discount.’_ She fiddled with the strap of her bag for a second, tilting her head as she thought.

“There’s a shortcut for it, surely,” she said finally, “but I can’t think of what it is off the top of my head.” Soramaru, Mimorin and Emitsun all groaned, throwing their heads back.

“We all pretty much said the same thing,” Sora muttered.

“How do none of us know this?!” Emitsun screeched.

Hanayo pulled her bag up over her shoulder and scuttled towards the back room.   
  
“Let me just put my stuff out the back.”

Ten minutes and one short customer interaction later, there were now four EZ employees crunched around one register, each bearing the same confused look as they tried to figure out this great conundrum.

“That’s it!” Mimo eventually cried, throwing her hands in the air dramatically. “I’m calling Ucchi.”

Sora blanched. “Uh, I don’t think she’s going to find this as important as we do.”

“Nonsense, she’ll - Ucchi! Quick, how do you turn off auto-discount?” After a brief moment Mimorin pulled the phone away from her head, eyes bugging out of her head. “She hung up on me!”

Hanayo shook her head, leaning against the counter lightly and frowning in thought.   
  
_‘Surely there must be some way to find out, maybe a guide or… my notebook!’_ The youngest employee sprung up and into the backroom, immediately digging into the drawers of the backroom desk to find her notebook of store information. Just in case, she kept an ear out to see if any of her senpais figured it out first.

Even through the shut backroom door, Hanayo could hear Mimorin’s loud call. “I know, I’ll call Nozomi!”

Oh God, no.

Hanayo straightened, half tripping over some preowned consoles and almost dropping her notebook on her way to get back out to the storefront in a panic. “Aah, Suzuko-senpai, I don’t think that’s a good idea--”

“Zoomzoom! Mimo here, you’re on speaker with Emi, Sora, Pana and I. Hey, do you know how to turn off auto discounts? None of us can figure it out.”

Mimorin looked completely nonplussed as a crackling silence stretched out from the other end of the line. Hanayo was frozen in the backroom door, undecided on whether she should step forward and try to salvage the call or turn back around and hide in the backroom until it was over.

 _“.... Are you serious?”_ Came her senpai’s voice through the phone.

“Yeah, I’ve been asking everybody and nobody knows what it is! There’s definitely a shortcut for it, right?”

With a deep breath through clenched teeth, Hanayo stepped closer to her senpais - and by association, the phone - and spoke up. “Suzuko-senpai, I’m sure it’s in my notebook, there’s no reason to bother Nozomi-senpai with this--”

 _“It’s Alt-P.”_ Nozomi said. Hanayo shivered - the icy chill of Nozomi’s tone was almost palpable.

“Wha-really? That’s it?” Emitsun wailed. The phone line crackled as Nozomi took a heavy breath - Pana could imagine her standing there, tightly clutching her phone, eyes shut as she tried to calm herself down. Mimo and Emitsun’s antics always seemed to find a way under her skin the fastest.

Hanayo leaned forward over Mimorin’s shoulder to speak closer to the phone. “Thank you so much, Nozomi-senpai, w-we’ll get out of your hair now!”

 _“If I get another call like this, I will fly back down there and personally throw you in the river.”_ There was just enough time for Mimorin to get in an indignant squawk before the line cut out, beeping ominously in the silent store. For a few moments, no one moved.

“You can go home now, Emitsun,” Soramaru deadpanned. Emitsun quickly flung her bag over her shoulder and fled. Hanayo sighed deeply, her body practically deflating until she was crouched behind the counter, notebook clutched to her chest.

“Well,” Mimorin piped up, smile stretched awkwardly across her face.   
  
“That went well!”

* * *

 

Needless to say, working in retail was the ultimate test of patience. Between dealing with customers who had no clue what they were on about, to those customers who were just plain rude, even down to the shenanigans that happened behind the scenes, patience was something very few employees had mastered. Kussun, having worked for the company since the beginning of time, was an absolute master in the art of patience and always kept her cool.  
With patience came another skill - controlling one’s mouth.

Mimorin and Emitsun, Hanayo found, were absolute experts at holding in their naughty words. Emitsun was able to quickly swap the naughty words out with random words, such as ‘fudge’ or ‘skittles.’ Her favourite thing to say when something made no sense was definitely ‘WHAT THE VELOCIRAPTOR?!’ and made little claws with her fingers to scratch at her head.

Mimorin never got herself into a position that required a swear. She was very good at avoiding situations and just wincing instead of opening her mouth.

She did that very wince when Hanayo voiced that she had not learnt how to cash up on thursday night.

“Well, Hanayo-chan, today is your lucky day!” Mimorin turned and cupped a hand to form a megaphone.

“Hey, Emitsun! Shut the doors and start tidying the walls please while I teach Hanayo some stuff!”

“You got it, Mimo-chan!”

Emitsun hurried off to do the tasks, while Mimorin opened a draw behind the counter. Emitsun went to run some errands for her other job, but came back to get her car and hang around for a little bit at 8pm. She had also triple checked that Nozomi was not in the vicinity since threatening to drown them all.  

“So, let’s start by getting this baby ready,” Mimorin pulled out a hideous looking red bag from the draw.

“This is the bank bag. We put the cash deposit from the tills in here,” the older employee then pulled open the draw beneath the main register.

“This is the chequebook, which contains the code to crack the bank bag! Here.”

Mimorin showed Hanayo that the little numbers on the bottom of the cheque matched up to the spaces on the bank bag. She wrote on the bag, as difficult as it was, and then smiled once the the clock struck 8:30. It was deserted, save for the employees and a few cleaners in the food-court. Mimorin opened the till, then closed the register with a few taps on the keyboard.

Hanayo was shown a quick and efficient way to count the till and figure out the deposit.

“Wow,” Hanayo watched in awe as Mimorin took the deposit out of the till and moved it to the main register.

“It’s pretty good, hey?” Mimorin grinned, closing the register.

“I’ve tried so many different ways to count, but Ucchi’s method is by far the best.”

Hanayo looked down at her notebook, highlighting the formula she had written in pink. It was strange, and would take some time to get used to, but it really _was_ the easiest way to find the deposit and check the float.

“Hanayo-chan, would you mind vacuuming? It’s 8:45, and then at 9pm, I’ll get you to close the other register.”

9pm did not come any quicker. Mimorin skipped over to the metal shutters and dragged them across to lock in the points. Hanayo placed the vacuum back on it’s hanger, then shuffled out awkwardly to see Mimorin back at the till with a smile.

“Okay, Hanayo-chan,” she pointed to the screen and stepped aside to allow the younger girl access.

“I’m going to direct you, but you’ll be doing the actions,” Mimorin gestured to the keyboard. Hanayo stared down, everything was blurring into a severe case of dyslexia. Hanayo gulped, but kept her ears open to Mimorin’s instructions.

“Hanayo-chan, please press the F1 button.”

Hanayo did so, and entered in her employee details. The next pop up made her look at Mimorin for guidance. The older employee leaned against the counter with a grin.

“Now press the space bar.”

One click later, another pop up came onto the screen. Mimorin nodded for Hanayo to press the button which would close the system.

Hanayo took a deep breath, and hit the button.

She wasn’t expecting the till to shoot out at her like a bullet and hit her in the stomach though. Hanayo instantly squeaked and retracted herself away from the now open till, as if she _had actually_ been shot.

“FUCK!”

What came out of Hanayos’ trembling lips was the one thing no one expected would ever happen. Silence encased the store, and time seemed to have stopped. Mimorin’s eyes went wide and she clasped her hands over her mouth. Emitsun’s mouth dropped open with a gasp. Hanayo snapped her gaze to Mimorin, and covered her own hands with her mouth. Her blood ran cold. She did the one thing you weren’t supposed to do when working in retail.

“I-I-I am so sorry!” She bowed profusely as sweat beaded on her forehead. Mimorin and Emitsun exchanged glances, and Mimorin instantly frowned. She pulled out her phone from the drawer and furiously punched in a number. Hanayo was terrified that Mimorin was going to tell on her to the manager, or even worse, get permission from Kussun to fire her.

 _‘W-Well, it was fun while it lasted, but I never got to say goodbye to Nozomi-senpai,’_ Hanayo straightened up and whimpered as Mimorin put the phone to her ear, her lips pursed.

“Toujou Nozomi,” her voice was curt, and Hanayo made an attempt to brace herself for the worst.

“You sinful hellspawn.”

 _'Wait, what?!’_ Hanayo blinked in confusion as Mimorin set down the phone on the counter and pressed a button to put it on speaker.

 _“Mimorin, what did I just_ _say to you no more than four hours ago about calling me?”_ Nozomi sounded tired on the other end of the phone, but Mimorin let out a series of ‘ahs’ to interrupt her.

“TOUJOU NOZOMI, YOU ARE A DISGRACE!”

_“What the fuck is going on?!”_

“There it is! You’ve ruined Hanayo-chan!”

 _“What?!”_ Nozomi was sounding more and more fed up with each question. Hanayo stared at the phone, probably more puzzled than her senpai on the phone. Emitsun smacked her hands down on the table and started scolding Nozomi.

“She swore, Nozomi-chan! This is all _your_ fault!”

Coughs and splutters could be heard from the other end of the phone, and Hanayo grew worried.

“A-Are you okay, Nozomi-senpai?”

“She doesn’t deserve that title anymore, Hanayo-chan,” Mimorin’s voice cut through the air swiftly while she stared daggers at the phone.

“You’ve corrupted our pure and sweet angel, you _heathen!_ ”

_“Sh-She swore?!”_

“YES!” Emitsun and Mimorin shouted into the phone. Hanayo couldn’t help but let out a giggle as Nozomi groaned.

_“So you called me at nine o’clock at night to tell me Hanayo swore and that it’s my fault?”_

“Your bad habits are corrupting her!”

“Yeah! You’re literally the worst! I should get a trademark on that,” Emitsun muttered the last part and scratched at her chin.

“Yes, Toujou Nozomi: The Worst™. It has a nice ring to it,” she seemed to be completely disinterested in the matter at hand, while Mimorin placed her hands on her hips and scowled at the phone some more.

“When you get back from Vendors you are a _dead woman,_ y’hear me?!”

_“Loud and clear, may I go back to my book now?”_

“Not until you apologize to the angel which you just kicked from grace!” Mimorin pointed to Hanayo, seeming to ignore the fact that Nozomi would not even see her.

There was a long sigh, and Hanayo envisioned the older girl rubbing her temples.

_“Hanayo, I am sorry...I think.”_

“It’s okay, Nozomi-senpai,” Hanayo didn’t know what else to say as she fidgeted awkwardly with Nozomi’s keys around her neck.

“Be prepared for death when you set foot in the store, Toujou,” Mimorin snapped, then slammed the little red button on the bottom of the phone. The three beeps sounded, and Mimorin turned back to face Hanayo, a smile instantly on her face.

“Okay, now do you remember the Ucchi method?”

Hanayo was shocked: Mimorin did a complete turnaround from her annoyance with Nozomi, as if it never happened.

The brunette nodded, moving the pink-tipped hair out of her face, and started to count the coins.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A party is held and it gets real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update we were busy making out and arguing who is cuter  
> lets be honest though this story got updated today through the magical power of Dom's birthday everyone send her lovely birthday wishes <3 <3

 

“Kaya-chan, do you want chocolate cereal or the rainbow one?” Kotori questioned, jumbo boxes of each flavour clutched in each hand, looking between the two with the keen eye of an experienced shopper. 

“Chocolate!” Came Honoka’s cry, probably from the next aisle over.

  
_‘But who knows for sure,’_ Hanayo thought, listening out for the sounds of Honoka’s mayhem while staying in her designated spot, leaning against the shopping cart and trying desperately to draft a message to Nozomi.

“I guess chocolate then,” The brunette replied, quiet and distracted as she finally decided on something simple and  harmless to send Nozomi.

 

 

 

> _11:38am_
> 
> **_Hanayo_ **
> 
> How are things? Did you make it to the airport ok?

Hanayo took a deep, calming breath, looking up from her phone just in time to witness Kotori return and throw a box of no-brand chocolate cereal into the cart.

“Don’t get distracted, Kaya-chan. Try to keep up,” Kotori warned, turning to walk with purpose towards the end of the aisle.

This was a fairly normal grocery trip for the group - Kotori was in charge of actually getting all the groceries (and wrangling her roommates), Hanayo stayed with the cart, and Honoka ran about the store with the attention span of a five-year-old. Officially, she was supposed to be going back for things they forgot in previous aisles, but it was mostly an excuse to let her roam freely and stay out of Kotori’s hair while she waxed poetic on the different between lean and extra lean beef.

Just as Hanayo was busying herself organising the cart contents like a grocery tetris game, her phone pinged.

 

 

 

> _2:41pm_
> 
> **Nozomi-senpai**
> 
> I’m here
> 
>  
> 
> _2:41pm_
> 
> **Nozomi-senpai**
> 
> My flight
> 
> got delayed
> 
>  
> 
> _2:42pm_
> 
> **Hanayo**
> 
> ヽ(*´□`)ﾉﾞ
> 
> Are you okay? When is your flight now?

“Keep up!” Kotori called suddenly, drawing Hanayo back into the moment, her shopping cart drifting to the side slightly to block most of the aisle. She grimaced, gripping the cart handle tightly and zipping into the next aisle after her roommate, practically drifting the corners in her haste. She briefly passed Honoka in the dairy section, who dropped an armful of candy into the cart with all the stealth of an elephant on roller skates, hollering and running back off to wherever it was she’d been the whole time.

It took Kotori all of 10 seconds to notice the sudden abundance of sweets.  
“Go back to the candy aisle and put those back where they came from. I’ll wait with the cart.” Hanayo nodded, scooping up the candy and hurrying off.

She pointedly avoided noticing the judging look she got from a middle aged woman on her way past, only slowing down slightly when her phone vibrated again, fishing it awkwardly out of her pocket.

 

 

 

> _2:44pm_
> 
> **Nozomi-senpai**
> 
> I’m fine, i’m just stuck here 2 hours longer than I wanted
> 
> I’m not sure i’ll make it back in time for ur thing

 

 

 

> _2:44pm_
> 
> **Hanayo**
> 
> Oh
> 
> I mean that’s fine
> 
> Its ok if you just want to go home when you land

 

 

 

 

> _2:45pm_
> 
> **Nozomi-senpai**
> 
> I’m sorry
> 
>  
> 
> _2:46pm_
> 
> **Hanayo**
> 
> No don’t worry it’s okay! Please try and fly safe! _d (^‿^✿)_

Sullenly, Hanayo shoved her phone back into her pocket, dragging her feet on her way back to the aisle she had left Kotori in, only to find it empty. With a frown, the brunette backtracked, looking down both adjacent aisles, seeing only an elderly couple whispering to each other over soup in one and a group of teenage boys rifling through british snacks in the other.

Nervously, she walked back to the aisle she’d last seen Kotori in.  
  
_‘Should I wait here, or try and find her?’_ she thought.  A woman with a shopping cart turned into her aisle, and Hanayo jumped towards one side, trying to look utterly fascinated in the pasta on the shelf in front of her. She couldn’t seem to control the way her fingers anxiously twisted in the loose fabric of her cardigan, all of her energy going into trying to twist her face to keep back the onslaught of illogical tears.  
  
_‘You’re a grown woman, Hanayo, you’re not lost.’_

“Kotori-chaaan, do we have room in the freezer for ice- oh wait, where’d she go?” Honoka came careening around the corner, two tubs of ice-cream tucked under each arm, the bare skin of her arm turning red at the cold contact.

“I don’t know,” Hanayo blubbered, turning towards her roommate, “I lost her.”

Honoka dropped her ice cream with a thunk, wrapping her arms around Hanayo and cooing softly. The younger tried not the flinch at the cold arms wrapped around her face, pulling her into Honoka’s chest. “It’s okay, we’ll go find her!”

Long story short, they did not find her. What they _did_ find was a woman at the registers who was willing to call out to their missing roommate over the loudspeaker, a younger employee who seemed _more_ than happy to play along with their shenanigans.

“Attention customers, could a Minami-san please come to the store front, your two children are waiting for you.” Honoka almost fell off the counter she was cackling so hard, Hanayo letting out watery squeaks and hiding her flaming red cheeks in her hands.

* * *

 

Nozomi put her phone down and sighed, trying to ignore the ringing in her ears from the bustling people and wheeled luggage. She was sitting at a _Starbucks,_ staring at the pathetic excuse for a chai tea she had bought and winced. 

If Nozomi had to choose between going to prison or an airport, she’d gladly throw herself into the armored vehicle and give her measurements for her striped uniform. Yes, the wifi was free, and the place was huge, but there was constant noise, and it made Nozomi anxious.  
  
Umi would without a doubt have her phone off to be studying, so she couldn’t text her. Rin would be at training, eating, sleeping, playing a game - basically, she wouldn’t answer her phone. Kussun had caught an early flight back home to get to the store, and Nozomi was willing to bet her Sunday pay that Mimorin would be with her insane animal-obsessed girlfriend. Maki had work, and Nico would not be of any help so there was no point in trying.  
  
Therefore, the last person who was remotely sane to talk to was Hanayo.  
  
She was lucky that the younger girl had texted first. Nozomi’s heart had fluttered when her screen lit up to see a text from Hanayo. The two texted back and forth and Nozomi tried her absolute hardest to seem like her usual, relaxed self. When asked about the party, the dread of the flight delay.

With another sigh, Nozomi stared down at the tea she had ordered, and suddenly did not feel like drinking anymore.  
  
_‘I really don’t want to miss that party,’_ Nozomi thought to herself. The conference had not been the most enjoyable of events, but on the contrary, it was nice to get away from the usual grind.  
  
But part of her grind was seeing Hanayo two days in a row.  
  
As stupid as it sounded, Nozomi missed Hanayo. Yes - the twenty-one-year-old missed some nineteen-year-old bundle of nerves. If Mimorin were to ever find out, Nozomi would have to start a new life far far away.  
  
Her phone vibrated, and the screen lit up with a new text from the woman of the hour:

 

 

 

> _2:46pm_
> 
> **Hanayo**
> 
> No don’t worry it’s okay! Please try and fly safe! _d (^‿^✿)_

  
“These little emojis are so cute,” Nozomi grinned, but then her face fell at the last part of the text.

Fly safe...flying...Nozomi _hated_ flying.

With a gulp, Nozomi tried to shove her fear into her stomach and continued to scroll through the past messages she and Hanayo had sent to each other. It was something to calm her nerves before getting into that giant metal tube. Looking over the conversations, she grinned at the stupidity. One time Hanayo had sent her a picture of a dog she saw on the street, and then proceeded to go to a pet store to try and find a little collar for it. There was of course the time Nozomi and Rin decided to attempt the cup song with one of Rin’s ramen cups, but Rin had used the wrong one and split the boiling contents all over the kitchen.

Reading back through them, Nozomi realised that her text thread with the younger girl was actually longer than that of Mimorin’s, and she had known Mimorin for well over three years. How was it possible for Nozomi to have such a long thread with someone she had barely known shy of three months.

A voice-over the loudspeaker addressed two missing passengers on a flight elsewhere, and it drew Nozomi out of her thoughts instantly.

 _'Dammit, how much longer have I got to go,’_ she looked down at her ticket, then to her watch. An hour and forty-five minutes.

“Shit!” She hissed, and a small gasp came from the side. Glancing over, Nozomi saw a small child with red hair similar to Maki’s, holding the hand of a woman with straight dark hair and narrowed green eyes. Her mouth, which had a mole near the corner, twitched in fury.

Nozomi offered a shrug, then turned back to her phone. The two women with matching green eyes walked away from her, but Nozomi paid no attention. 

 _‘If only time could go faster,’_ Nozomi thought, resting her cheek in her hand and trying to fight the demon within that was a cigarette craving.

 _‘I’m sure there would be no harm in buying some before I get on the plane.’_  
With that thought, Nozomi stood up and stretched, deciding to go on a hunt for tobacco.  
  
With her hands behind her back, Nozomi walked through the airport and hummed a tune that had been playing in the coffee shop. Her search did not go for too long because after the next corner, her eyes fell upon the magic newsagent. A chorus of angels sounded in Nozomi’s head and her smile broadened. Clicking her heels together, she went inside.  
  
“Hello!” Nozomi cheerfully greeted the woman behind the counter. Nozomi may not like working in retail, but that did not mean she would be _that_ customer to someone else in her shoes.

“Hi,” was the mumbled response from the cashier. 

 _‘I don’t blame her,’_ Nozomi thought, reaching into her bag for her wallet. 

“Can I get fifty grams of the _White Ox_ tobacco please?”

“Sure thing, it’ll be four-thousand and seven hundred yen.”

Nozomi choked on her own breath, and let out a splutter.

“F-Four _thousand?!”_ The cashier may as well have punched her in the gut.

“Yep, the price is getting higher and higher this day and age,” The cashier shrugged. Nozomi’s jaw hung open, and felt as though someone had just punched her in the gut.

“Okay okay, um, how much is it for a packet of _Marlboro Silver?_ ”

“Two-thousand yen,”

Nozomi’s eye twitched and her wallet practically weeped in her hand. Did she _really_ want to spend that much money on tobacco? Was it necessary? She mulled over her options for a bit, sticking out her tongue and fiddling with the little ghost keychain on her wallet. 

“Okay,” she took a breath and smiled up at the cashier. “I’ll take the White Ox, and it’s going to be my last packet for good.”

The cashier's eyebrows raise up, “You serious?”

“One hundred percent, if the prices are like this now gives me an even better reason to quit,” Nozomi opened her wallet and took out a bundle of notes.

“Last packet ever.”

* * *

 

Hanayo, Honoka and Kotori arrive home just in time to bring the groceries in from the car before the rain starts. The gentle patter of it against the tin roof follows them through the afternoon, slowly getting the house into shape for guests. Kotori spends most of it in the kitchen, first putting perishables in the fridge and then preparing food for that night, while Honoka and Hanayo focus on moving the living room furniture and cleaning up the accumulated mess of three university-aged girls.

 _‘It’s going to be a good night,’_ Hanayo thinks, stringing Kotori’s fairy lights above the balcony door. She hopes that Nozomi’s flight comes in safe, and tries not to feel too sad about it.

Honoka, on the other hand, was more vocally distraught when she finds out. “Aagh, how am I supposed to put the digs on her now?!” She cries, flopping dramatically onto the couch.

“Who’s not coming?” Kotori shouts from the kitchen.

Honoka lifts her head just enough to shout back, “Nozomi-san!”, her face falling back into the couch cushion as Kotori lets out a disappointed cry.  
  
“But I had my disapproving mother pose all figured out!” The clatter of something dropping on the benchtop echoes through the house before Kotori appears in the archway, hands on her hips with an overdramatic disappointed pout on her face.

“You look like a pouty bird,” Honoka deadpans, completely failing to dodge the cushion Kotori hurls at her face.

* * *

 

“I’m certain this is the place, I picked Kayo-Chin up here!” Rin bounced up and down in the seat as Umi sighed. They were sitting outside a blue and white house in Nozomi’s car, and Umi rubbed her legs together to straighten out her [black shorts](http://i.schoolido.lu/c/263Umi.png):

“I do not doubt that, but-”

“But what?” 

“Are we late?”

“Umi-chan, we’ve been sitting out here for nearly twenty minutes, we’re nyat late!”

Umi gripped the steering wheel tighter and gulped.

“Are you _sure_ this is the right address?”

“Nyever been more sure in my life,” Rin grinned, and opened the car door.

“Now come on! Something smells good and I wannya eat it!”

“Rin!” Umi squawked, scrambling out of her seat to try and follow her and almost slipping on the wet grass. Before she could take off after her excited flatmate, Umi doubled back to check she had locked the car.

They follow the short path to the doorway between the well maintained hedges, dodging a low spot where water had pooled into a puddle and stepping gingerly up the steps, Rin bounding forward to knock on the door with enough force to probably bruise her knuckles.

“Oh gosh what if they moved,” Umi cried weakly, wincing and clutching her backpack strap with white knuckles.

“Umi-chan get a grip!” Rin hissed, stuffing her hands in her [hoodie pockets](http://i.schoolido.lu/c/157Rin.png) and hearing the pattering of footsteps come closer.

The door opened, and there stood Honoka. Her eyes lit up upon seeing Rin.

“Rin-chan!” Honoka threw her arms out and instantly Rin crash-tackled the other ginger to the ground. Umi looked quizzically at the scene before her.

“How is my favourite kid?!” 

“I’m nyat a kid!”

“You have the maturity of a five-year-old with a litre of soft drink,” Umi deadpanned, not noticing another figure come up to the door. 

“Ah! You must be the other housemate of Nozomi-san!” 

Umi looked up, and smiled at the woman with long hair in a strange hairstyle.

“Yes, Sonoda Umi. A pleasure,” Umi bowed deeply. As she did, a familiar scent hit her nose. Umi twitched, and then shot upright with narrowed eyes. 

“Is...something the matter?” Kotori tilted her head to the side but her smile stayed ever present. Umi’s grip on her purse tightened even more. 

“Did...did you make mozzarella sticks?” Umi asked in a shaky voice. Kotori nodded with a giggle. 

“I did, it’s a new recipe I wanted to try out. I need to write a review for my food blog, but-”

“I will gladly consume them all and give you feedback,” Umi’s voice was low, and Honoka looked on, confused.

“Ignya her, she just has this thing about mozzarella sticks,” Rin reassured the older ginger.

“Okay then,” Honoka instantly shrugged and dragged Rin into the house.

“C’mon! Let’s go play _Smash Bros!_ Hanayo-chan brought down her wii u!”

“OH HELL NYEAH!”

“Now that you mention it, where _is_ Kaya-chan?” Kotori turned around and peered into the living room.

* * *

 Up in her room, Hanayo stood in front of the mirror, ringing her hands awkwardly and looking herself up and down. The dress code was casual, but was a [brown skirt with a green jumper](http://i.schoolido.lu/c/756Hanayo.png) _too_ casual? Hanayo gulped and scurried over to her jewellery box, maybe a hair clip would add something to her look.

 _'Why am I even THINKING about this?’_ She thought as her shaky little hands put the clip to use in her bangs.

_‘Is it because the place will be full of people, or the fact that Maki-chan is coming over? Or maybe-’_

As unlikely as it was, the answer clicked. The very very _very_ slim possibility of Nozomi coming over was what Hanayo was worried about. Nozomi seemed so cool in everything she did, and her fashion sense out of the EZ uniform was particularly stylish to Hanayo at least.

Hanayo shook her head and slapped her cheeks.

_‘Get a grip Hanayo! Nozomi-senpai isn’t going to be coming! You look fine for everyone else!’_

That only made her heart plummet into her stomach. In a desperate attempt to stop the snowball in her mind from rolling, Hanayo shook her head again and spun on her heel to leave her room.

 _‘I heard Rin-chan downstairs, so that must mean Nozomi-senpai’s other housemate is here. I need to introduce myself.’_  
  
As Hanayo descended the stairs, she heard whoops, hollers and screams of anguish coming from the living room. Confused, she knelt down and peered through the staircase railing to see two familiar gingers sitting on the couch in the living room with controllers in their hands. 

“HOW THE ACTUAL HECK DID YOU MANAGE TO GET THE HOLY TOMATO?!” Honoka screamed as Rin laughed.

“NYAHAHAH! KEEP UP OLD TIMER! NO-ONE CAN BEAT SONIC! NYA ONE!!!”

Honoka let out another wail and Hanayo chuckled. Honoka was known for never being good at video games. In all honesty, and with no surprise, Hanayo was the best gamer out of her housemates.

She continued to descend the stairs, lightly skipping the last one out of habit, and poked her head into the living room to get a better view of what was happening. While Honoka and Rin sat on the couch playing _Smash Brothers,_ Kotori was in the kitchen talking to a tall woman with long blue hair and deep brown eyes. On the counter was a rectangular plate, where a pile of mozzarella sticks sat, along with dipping sauce.

“So then I just deep fry them and let them sit, I’ll put the whole recipe on my blog tomorrow,” Kotori grinned and picked up a mozzarella stick to bite into.

“I see, how fascinating. I usually just bake them in the oven, but they are so much gooier and delicious when fried. Less healthy, but tastier,” The woman who Hanayo instantly recognized as Nozomi’s housemate Umi picked up a stick as well and sniffed it.

 _‘She’s got this weird obsession with mozzarella sticks. I don’t know why but every Saturday she bakes them for us,’_ Nozomi had told Hanayo during a shift at work.

Kotori’s amber eyes caught sight of Hanayo, and she turned to face the younger girl.

“Kaya-chan! Have you met Umi-chan yet?” Kotori gestured to the woman, who was currently biting into a mozzarella stick with a look of sheer euphoria on her face. 

“I haven’t,” Hanayo timidly walked forward and bowed.

“A pleasure to meet you,” Umi bowed as well, but when she straightened up, Hanayo found it hard not to laugh at the piece of melted cheese on the side of Umi’s mouth.

_‘I was expecting Umi-san to be some cranky old lady, but I never took her for being a food-loving dork.’_

* * *

“Hey, can you guys pause that for a second?” Kotori asked suddenly, tilting her head to the side curiously. “I thought I heard someone at the door.” The two redheads both sigh dramatically, but Honoka dutifully reaches for the remote and mutes the tv. With the sounds of the tv and conversation now at a halt, Hanayo could now hear clearly what Kotori must have also heard; two voices, muffled and seemingly coming from down the hall and outside the front door.

“Um, i’ll go see who it is?” Hanayo offered, slowly edging out of the room and scurrying down the hall. Approaching the door, the voices steadily grew louder and clearer, until finally she could make them out clear as day.

“She’s your friend, you knock.”

“C-come on, Nico-chan, you’re better at this than me.”

“Better at - it’s knocking on a door! How hard can it be?”

“If it’s so easy, why don’t _you_ want to do it?”

Shaking her head and holding back an exasperated chuckle, Hanayo pulled open the door, the light from the hallway illuminating the faces of the two new guests. Maki was wearing a [grey sweater dress](http://i.schoolido.lu/c/548Maki.png) of some kind, and a tan puffer vest thrown over the top to try and ward off the worst of the chill. Nico was dressed in a [warm white coat](http://i.schoolido.lu/c/728Nico.png), buttoned up with the ends of a light brown skirt peeking out from beneath it’s length and clutching a polka dot umbrella in one hand, still dripping drops of water onto the porch.

“Good evening Nico-senpai, Maki-chan. I’m glad you got here safely after all the rain!” She grinned.

It seemed to take them a moment to recover from the sudden end to their argument, Maki recovering with a near imperceptible shake of her head. “Yeah… yes. Thanks for inviting us, Hanayo-chan.” She gave a slight smile, nodding slightly as Hanayo gestured for them to step inside, sliding past with grace.

“Eli’s going to be a little late,” Nico added, stopping to shake her umbrella outside the door before leaning on the wall just inside the door, “she had to close the store today and wanted to shower before coming over.”

“That’s fine, so long as she knows the address.”

They exchanged pleasantries as they made their way back towards the living room, which had become lively with sound once again during Hanayo’s short absence. Rin was back to playing _Smash Brothers_ , against a whimsically smiling Kotori (who honestly looked like a mother playing with her small child rather than a young woman playing with a girl less than two years her junior), but Honoka had moved on to welcoming Maki into the fold, rolling up her [blue sleeves](http://i.schoolido.lu/c/883Honoka.png) as she peppered her with constant and seemingly random questions.

“Can you do push-ups?” She chirped, leaning towards Maki as the redhead in question leaned back slightly.

“P-push-ups?” The younger stuttered. Honoka nodded.

“Yeah, like this!” She took a step back, carefully avoiding one of the side tables and dropping to the floor, getting into a standard push-up position. After a moment, she looked up at Maki with a glint in her eyes. “You too!” With a jolt Maki scrambled to comply, leaning her purse against the wall and copying her senior, rolling up her sleeves before kneeling down and leaning into a similar position.

“Alright then, one, two--” Honoka chanted, leading Maki into a series of push ups, followed by ‘push-ups while smiling, it’s much harder!’. Hanayo shared a confused grimace with Nico and led her to skirt around the exercising pair, leading her towards where Umi was steadily making her way through the entire tray of mozzarella sticks under the pleased and watchful eye of Kotori.

“Umi senpai, Kotori-chan, this is Nico-senpai. She works with Maki at the makeup store near where I work.” She turns back to her shorter senpai and nods, smiling happily as her companions nod in greeting to each other.

* * *

Thanking the taxi driver, Nozomi stepped out of the car and shut the door. She stood at the edge of Printemps lane and sighed as the fresh air smacked her in the face. Nozomi turned around to pay the driver, who then drove off as the girl basked in the clear air. She had been trapped inside an airport for way too long, then had to sit through an hour long flight and finally threw herself into a stuffy taxi to take her home. However, upon remembering Umi and Rin had taken her car, Nozomi had to call _another_ taxi to get to the party. 

Needless to say that the fresh air was welcome, and so was the cigarette she was currently rolling.

Although it was the evening, the sky looked pretty clear, after all it was after that rain storm had rolled by. There was even an evening rainbow.

 _‘That’s gay,’_ Nozomi thought dumbly, lighting up the cigarette and closing her eyes with a happy sigh.

It took a bit of willpower to get herself to walk down the street, and she adjusted her [denim jacket](http://i.schoolido.lu/c/264Nozomi.png) and stuffed her hands into her skirt pockets.She had only brought the essentials with her - phone, wallet, keys and cigarettes.

As she walked, counting all the SVU’s and picket fences, Nozomi then raised an eyebrow at the familiar sky blue car that sat down a few houses from her destination.

 _‘Is that…?’_ Nozomi thought, slowing herself down to think. She new that car, it was unmistakable, all the times she had sat in that front passenger seat, how many times she had driven it when the driver was too drunk, the amount of times the two had gotten busy in the back seats…

 _‘Surely not, is Hanayo even_ friends _with Elichi?’_ Nozomi thought, stepping over a puddle and exhaling smoke from her cigarette.

_‘But she’s friends with Maki-chan…’_

The realisation dawned on her and Nozomi bit her lip. She did the maths.

‘Hanayo’s friendship with Maki-chan + Maki-chan’s boss being Elichi  = Elichi getting invited,’ Nozomi steeled herself as she walked by the fence of the Printemps Palance. Over the fence, she saw a familiar head of blonde hair standing outside the front door. 

A wicked grin curled onto Nozomi’s lips as she ever so quietly took her hands out of her pockets and crept up the footpath. She was careful to avoid the puddles on the ground and the slippery uneven areas of the stone. Her stealthy game played off as she managed to get behind the fidgeting blonde.

Nozomi pushed her hand over Eli’s shoulder to extend the finger that would ring the doorbell. With a yelp of shock, Eli jumped up and whirled around. Upon recognizing who it was, her face fell into a frown as Nozomi laughed.

“N-Nozomi!” Eli hissed, hugging herself in embarrassment. Nozomi winked with a shrug.

“G’evenin’, Elichi.”

The blonde groaned, and adjusted her [striped beige blazer](http://i.schoolido.lu/c/262Eli.png).

“Come on, let’s go in.”

“Says the chick standing out the front nervously like a lost puppy,” Nozomi jabbed, and Eli huffed in annoyance.

“Look, I was on the phone to my boss!”

 _"Sure_ you were,” Nozomi rolled her eyes as footsteps pattered up to the door on the other side.

“You _always_ wait outside the door, how many times did I find you outside of my place?”

“Th-That was different!” Eli spluttered as the door opened to reveal Honoka.

“EH?!” The ginger looked from Eli to Nozomi, completely confused.

“Heya Honoka-chan!” Nozomi greeted, throwing on a proper smile as Eli bowed.

“Hi, I’m Ayase Eli. I work with Maki and Nico.”

“Yeah yeah, b-but Nozomi-san you were supposed to not be here?!” Honoka barely acknowledged Eli and continued to gape at the oldest girl.

Nozomi shrugged, “Change of plans. I can leave if you _really_ want,” she teased and stretched out her leg to move back down the footpath.

Honoka panicked and grabbed Nozomi by the denim jacket.

“No it’s not that! I was just-”

“Relax, Honoka-chan, I’m teasing,” Nozomi smirked, and Honoka pouted.

“Whatever, now come inside, we got the Wii U! It’s currently Rin-chan versing Nico-chan and it’s getting _INTENSE!_ ”

“This I gotta see,” Nozomi let herself into the house, but not before sending one final wink in Eli’s direction.

When Nozomi entered the living room, the sight before her was unbelievable. Sitting on the couch was Maki, and then Honoka sat down next to her and the two resumed their talking. On the floor sat Nico and Rin, but they were really just squatting and jumping up and down as they played _Smash Brothers._

“Hey y’all!” Nozomi greeted, and Rin quickly glanced over at her flatmate.

“Nozomi-chan! You’re h-NYAT WAS UNCALLED FOR!”

Sonic the Hedgehog when flying off the screen as Kirby did a dance. Nico smirked and flicked back a twintail, “The great Nico Nii never loses!”

Nozomi laughed and folded her arms, but she was soon met with a very fast-moving brown blur that turned out to be Kotori. Before Nozomi knew it, [Kotori ](http://i.schoolido.lu/c/968Kotori.png)threw herself into a hug.

“Nozomi-san! I thought you weren’t gonna make it!” Kotori’s voice was muffled since her face was in Nozomi’s shoulder.

“Yeah same, but I’m here now, so let’s get this party started,” Nozomi smiled and when the two broke away, rubbed her hands together.

“Whatchya got to drink?”

“Everything,” Kotori’s eyes gleamed as she lead Nozomi into the kitchen.

* * *

While Hanayo was in the bathroom, she had heard an increase in volume from the living room, along with the calling of a familiar name.

“Nozomi-chan! You’re h-NYAT WAS UNCALLED FOR!”

Her eyes widened with realization as to who had walked in the door.

“Nozomi-san! I thought you weren’t gonna make it!”

Hanayo quickly finished up in the bathroom and burst out into the living room.

“Is that?!” She started, her eyes darting around the room in search of her senpai. Honoka broke her gaze with Maki and smiled gleefully at her younger housemate.

“Nozomi-san just went outside onto the balcony if you’re looking for her,” Honoka pointed upstairs. With a fast ‘excuse me!’ Hanayo dashed up the stairs, tripping on a few in her hurry.

Maki raised an eyebrow when Honoka laughed.

“She’s _that_ keen to see Nozomi?”

“Hanayo really likes Nozomi-san,” Kotori spoke for Honoka as she came out of the kitchen with her second bottle of cider.

“You could say she really, really, _really_ likes Nozomi-san.”

Maki shrugged, and went back to talking to Honoka.

* * *

Nozomi leaned against the balcony railing with her cruiser in one hand and face in the other palm. A cigarette stuck out of the corner of her mouth as she gazed up at the starry sky. The evening had cleared up from the rain earlier, and fresh stars twinkled along with the moon and reflecting off the water-slicked roads.

With a little sigh, Nozomi exhaled the smoke from her nostrils and felt herself relax further. Something about being out at night did that to her. She was so caught up in her stargazing that she didn’t hear the small patter of footsteps from inside the house.

“N-Nozomi-senpai?”

A voice yanked her back to earth. Nozomi turned around, and her eyes instantly lit up.

“Hanayo!” Nozomi beamed as the younger girl joined her on the balcony. Hanayo looked incredibly happy, her smile stretched from ear to ear.

“I thought your flight was delayed!”

“You’re not the only one,” Nozomi chuckled and leaned sideways against the railing. She removed her cigarette to take a swig of the cruiser.

Hanayo stood next to her, fidgeting nervously with her sweater, “How was the week away?”

Nozomi’s smile deflated into a wry grin and she let out another small sigh, “How ‘bout I give you a really quick run-down, then I’ll get Kussun to hold a store meeting to explain everything in more detail.”

Hanayo winced, and Nozomi felt awful for her statement to be so blunt, “I’m sorry,” she sighed and tapped her bottler nervously.

“Anyway, the whole thing was about preparation for the EZ Expo - y’know what that is, right?”

Hanayo nodded. She did _indeed_ know. She had attended the last two and really enjoyed it both times.

“Well, it’s basically just a setup for that, and some sales and general stuff. We also need to address some stuff about customer service, so we’ll be going back to the book on a few things,” Nozomi watched Hanayo take in all the information with some more nods and hums. The older girl’s grin turned into a smile again as she shifted her weight onto her other leg.

“So, has Rin-chan been a problem at all?”

“No, she’s fine. I think the Wii U was a good idea, it’s keeping her occupied,” Hanayo said, visibly relaxing.

“I’m very surprised Honoka-chan and Maki-chan are getting along. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“You and me both. I’ve never seen Maki-chan be this social,” Nozomi mused, and Hanayo giggled at the statement.

“Also, can I just say that Umi-san was not who I was expecting her to be.”

“How so?” Nozomi raised her eyebrows curiously and put her cigarette back into her mouth. Hanayo’s eyebrows furrowed nervously, “I...Thought she was going to be some cranky old lady...b-but she’s a nice quiet person who...really likes mozzarella sticks.”

At this, Nozomi burst out laughing, and the smoke came out of her mouth in a disjointed pattern. 

“Did I _really_ make Umi-chan seem cranky?! I owe her an apology then,”

Hanayo shrugged, and heard an ungodly shriek of annoyance from downstairs.

“That’s probably Niccochi losing _Smash Brothers,_ ” Nozomi’s laughter died down and in turn, Hanayo started to giggle again.

“I thought she was doing really well,”

“The only way to beat Niccochi in _Smash_ is to use the baseball bat,” Nozomi took another swig of the cruiser and shook her head.

“We had a lot of late nights playing _Smash_ when I lived alone.”

“I see,”

“Who do you main?”

“Jigglypuff, how about you?”

Nozomi hummed in thought, looking off into the stars with unfocused eyes, “In all honesty, I like Zelda, but I don’t play the game as much as I used to. Life happened, y’see,” Nozomi chuckled as she looked back at Hanayo. 

The two just stood there for what felt like eons, simply looking into eachother’s eyes. Nozomi took a drag from her cigarette again, and angled to breathe out the smoke away from Hanayo’s face like she always did.

“Did I tell you I’m going to quit smoking too? I bought my last pack at the airport because it’s really expensive these d- _Hmph?”_

Nozomi didn’t finish her sentence, because Hanayo stepped forward and pressed her lips against Nozomi’s. The soft sensation surprised Nozomi, and her eyebrows flew into her hair.

* * *

Hanayo felt as though a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped over her when she realised what she had just done. That, and the putrid taste of smoke and alcohol made her instantly pull away from Nozomi. She coughed, spluttered and wretched violently, her eyes watering, in an attempt to get the taste out of her mouth. 

Nozomi herself seemed to be shocked into silence, eyes wide as saucers and cigarette slowly slipping out of her suddenly lax grip. She didn’t even seem to have the presence of mind to mock Hanayo for what surely must be a hilarious display, red eyed and hacking into her hand.

_‘Oh my god, oooh my goood, what did I just do, what do I do now--’_

Hanayo’s inner monologue is suddenly cut off by the thunderous noise of the balcony door sliding open, scraping against the wooden floor.

“Kaya-chan, do you remember what we did with the - ooh,” Kotori cut herself off, having only just ducked under the sheer curtain blocking the balcony door and seen how close her two friends were standing - though one seemed totally frozen and the other was backing away in a panic.

Nozomi, having short-circuited, didn’t respond or even look at Kotori. Hanayo, on the other hand, had completely fried her motherboard and was frantically trying to form a cohesive sentence.  
“I-I uhm...wh-what?!”

“I was gonna ask about the rest of the chips, but I guess I’ll just leave you two--”

“The chips!” Hanayo screeched, frantically backpedalling and stumbling her way past Kotori into the house, “v-vitally important, I’ll go get those, no problem Kotori-chan!” And with a final squeak she was gone, the sheer curtain fluttering behind her as she raced back into the house.

Kotori pouted, sighing to herself. “Sorry to ruin a beautiful moment,” she said, mostly to herself since Nozomi still seemed pretty out of it. Kotori smirked, stepping out onto the balcony fully and gently tapping her on the shoulder, causing her to jump slightly and finally notice the presence of the ashy-blonde.

“Maybe you should sleep over here tonight, you seem a little too drunk to go home.” She offered.

Nozomi started, “But I only had one--”

“You’re staying here.”

“Yes ma’am.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been 84 years

When Hanayo practically tripped down the stairs the morning after the party, she was greeted by two things; the smell of Kotori’s should-be-famous pancakes, and a half dressed Nozomi almost falling off the couch.

They don’t really talk about what happened last night - Hanayo bolted red-faced into the kitchen, the force of her footsteps knocking a drowsy Nozomi out of her slumber. By the time Nozomi had thrown on her jacket and slouched into the kitchen, Hanayo had downed half a glass of milk and two pancakes, pointedly paying very close attention to something on her phone.

 Nozomi let out a world weary sigh as she slumped into the stool next to Hanayo, letting out a quiet ‘thanks’ when Kotori slid a plate of pancakes in front of her.

“Your couch is comfortable,” she said, pouring maple syrup over her breakfast.

“O-oh, yeah.”

Nozomi’s eyes flicked towards her kouhai. “You okay?”

“Yes!” Hanayo squared her shoulders, finally looking up and meeting Nozomi’s eyes.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Nozomi looked different without her makeup - not any better or worse, in Hanayo’s opinion, but there was something more open about her this way.  
  
Hanayo could see the tiny crinkle beside her eye when she smiled.

“So, Maki and Honoka? Didn’t think they’d get on so well,” Nozomi drawled around a mouthful of pancake.

“Is that what that was?” Kotori chimed in from beside the stove. “I thought they were competing.”

“With Maki, they’re the same thing. Just look at her and Nico.”

“No, what they do is flirting, it’s very different.”

“Maybe she was flirting with Honoka too?”

“Nobody’s flirting with Honoka-chan, she already belongs to me.” Kotori deadpanned.

 “Oh wow, I feel so loved!” Honoka screeched as she ran into the kitchen, wrapping her arms around Kotori’s shoulders and rubbing her cheek against the back of her head.

 “Not now sweetheart, i’ll burn the pancakes.”

“Ooh! I want chocolate chips in mine!”

 Hanayo leaned over toward Nozomi, the ends of her hair brushing Nozomi’s shoulder.  
  
“I can’t decide if they’re husband and wife or mother and child.” Nozomi snorted, one hand flying up to cover her mouth to keep her food inside.

* * *

 

Nozomi left soon after she devoured her pancakes, which gave the three housemates the day to clean up the house from the previous night. Hanayo had already finished her designated areas, and then retreated to her room late at night.  
  
_'I can't believe last night happened,'_ Hanayo thought as she flopped onto her bed and buried her face in the plush green pillows. Her face turned red at the memory of pressing her lips against Nozomi's, and she squealed into the pillow out of pure embarrassment.  
  
"I need to fix this," she whined, rolling onto her side and pulling out her phone. Hanayo knew that there was always one way to get someone to forgive you - buy something for them.  
  
She opened up a new browser in her phone and went straight to  _Etsy_ , the one website where there was something for everyone. Soon enough, she found an adorable little charm that looked like a ghost wearing a witch hat.  
  
"Perfect," Hanayo smiled and added the charm to her cart.

The second the web page refreshed and her order was placed, Hanayo’s phone started to vibrate. Looking down, the screen flashed with a familiar name. Hanayo picked up the phone and slid her finger across the screen to put it up against her ear.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
“Hanayo, it’s Maki.”  
  
“Maki-chan! How are you?” Hanayo grinned at how formal Maki was being.  
  
“Fine, thank you, how about you?”  
  
“I’m okay,”  
  
“Great…”  
  
The phone line crackled as Maki went silent. Hanayo was honestly used to this by now, seeing as how awkward her friend was. Hanayo twirled the [fluffy pom-pom](http://i.schoolido.lu/c/322Hanayo.png) strand from her shirt around her finger as she waited for Maki to respond.  
  
“A-Anyway...you like eyeshadow with glitter, right?” Maki finally spoke, but her voice was scratchy.  
  
“Yes?” Hanayo did her best to hide her confusion, but it was no use.  
  
“Well...It looks like we’re getting a shipment of a new glitter range tomorrow, a-and I was wondering if you’d like to come in and sample of it? I don’t wear it, so I can give you my samples.”  
  
“Maki-chan, thank you!” Hanayo smiled, that was so nice of Maki. The girl did not seem the type to do something so generous at a first glance, but it would help Hanayo a lot, especially since she just paid for an item for Nozomi and her spending money was rather tight.  
  
“I-It’s nothing,” Maki stumbled through the phone.  
  
“Normally Nico-chan would just take the products I don’t want, but she wouldn’t be caught dead in anything glittery. Honoka doesn’t seem like the type to wear makeup so I’d rather it go to someone who would use it.”  
  
“That means a lot to me, thank you again,” Hanayo repeated, then proceeded to chat with Maki for the rest of the evening about small topics of discussion - ranging from a new store in the centre to their co-workers antics.  
  
“I only really work with Nozomi-senpai,” Hanayo explained, leaning back in her chair.  
  
“Huh, interesting. I only work with Nico-chan and Eli-senpai. Never even met the manager.”  
  
“So what is Eli-senpai then?”  
  
“Eli-senpai is the assistant manager, but I only seem to work on days where the manager ain’t in. So in my eyes, Eli _is_ the manager.”  
  
“Makes sense,” Hanayo admitted. She rarely worked with anyone but Nozomi, so to her, she was the manager, no matter how many times Nozomi had said how she would rather become Paris Hilton’s personal goat than be a manager of a game store.  
  
Hanayo’s computer pinged, and the email notification came up confirming her order placed.  
  
_‘Great, that should arrive soon,’_ she thought with a smile. Her eyes drifted down to the clock on the corner of her screen, the white numbers spelling out 11:51pm.

“Ah, so late!” she said through her teeth. “Sorry Maki-chan, I’ve gotta go get some sleep.”

“Ah, yes, I probably should too.” Maki uttered. “I’ll see you soon, Hanayo.”

“Night night, Maki-chan.” Hanayo couldn’t help but smile to herself as she finished the call.  


* * *

 

Hanayo would never be over how glossy and contemporary _Bibi_ was in comparison to the bland pharmacy that it was planted next to in the concrete garden that was the Akiba shopping centre.  
  
Inside, Hanayo could see a familiar head of red hair at the cashier counter, and walked inside. Her back was straighter than usual, as if there was an air of confidence swirling around her.  
  
“Hello Maki-chan,” Hanayo smiled as she approached her friend.  
  
Maki looked up, and Hanayo had to stop a squeak of surprise upon seeing that Maki was wearing a rather dark shade of lipstick.  
  
“Hi Hanayo,” Maki nodded. When Hanayo didn’t respond, she rolled her eyes.  
  
“What? Never seen a dark lip before?”  
  
“N-No it’s not that! It’s just...very dynamic,” Hanayo dissolved and hunched her shoulders, all confidence gone.  
  
Maki stuffed her hand into her apron and shrugged, “Sometimes I feel like changing my makeup every now and then, nothing wrong with it.”  
  
“Not at all, it really suits you,” Hanayo thought she sounded eager to cover up her mistakes, but Maki didn’t seem to notice because she pulled out three pans of eyeshadow ranging in colours from green, red and yellow.  
  
“Here you go, I wouldn’t be caught dead,” Maki stretched out her hand and placed the pans into Hanayo’s palm.  
  
Hanayo smiled down at the pans, taking a liking to the pastel green in the centre, “Thank you so much, Maki-chan!”  
  
Maki blushed furiously when Hanayo’s violet eyes sparkled with kindness and she gripped the pans to her chest.  
  
“It’s nothing, seriously.”  
  
“What’s nothing?” A new voice sounded and Hanayo tensed up as a blonde rounded the corner, carrying a small box.  
  
“I gave Hanayo my free samples from _Glitz_ because they’re not my aesthetic,” Maki answered honestly, folding her arms and shaking her hair back over her shoulders.  
  
“Oh,” Eli’s icy gaze turned to the brunette. Her stoic expression made Hanayo feel as though she was freezing her heart and soul.  
  
“Well, what you do with the samples is up to you, anyway,” Eli placed the box behind the counter and checked her watch for the time.  
  
“I need to dash up to the post office on my break to mail off this order I got last night.”  
  
“We don’t take orders at night?” Maki raised an eyebrow, visibly confused.  
  
“Not for _Bibi,_ for my _Etsy_ store,” Eli explained with a small grin quirking on her lips.  
  
“One my newer designs, too. I hope it goes to a nice home, and I guess it will because the buyer lives in the area.”

Hanayo froze.  
  
Post office. Shipping. Etsy. Close by.  
  
It clicked.  
  
With trembling knees and a dry mouth, Hanayo’s teeth started to chatter.  
  
“That’s...g-going to my place…”  
  
Eli and Maki looked at the brunette, the younger confused and the older with a quirked eyebrow.  
  
“Maki,” Eli spoke, getting the redhead to stand up straight like a soldier in the army.  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“I’m going on break now, see you in an hour,” Eli then turned her gaze to Hanayo.  
  
“And you’re coming with me.”   


 

* * *

 

Of all the places Hanayo imagined Eli-senpai wanting to eat at, a dessert store really wasn’t one of them. Truly, it was a fairly upmarket one, with clean marble floors and spotless glass cabinets full of gourmet chocolates and cakes, but it still seemed to focus almost entirely on sickeningly sweet foods, where Eli gave off more of a savoury vibe.  
  
The blonde woman directed Hanayo to a table with a wave of her hand and a quick “I’ll order something you’ll like.”

A few minutes later she was back with a table number on a stand, which she aligned perfectly in centrr of the table. Eli then tucked her feet under her seat and tapped her fingers together, analysing Hanayo’s withdrawal into herself.

 Eli tapped her fingers rhythmically against the tabletop. “You’re enjoying working at the game store?”

 “Oh, yes.” Hanayo shifted her legs awkwardly. “I enjoy working with Nozomi-senpai.”

“Do you always work with Nozomi?”

 “Um, mostly.”

Eli blinked, nodding slightly and turning her body to face the arrival of the waitress, bearing a loaded tray; she left a cup in front of Eli, what looked like a mocha, along with some kind of slice. In front of Hanayo, she left a mug of hot chocolate herself with a leaf design on the top, and a sundae arranged to look like a smiling face. Somehow, Hanayo got the impression this was a dish intended for children.

“Do you not like it?” Eli asked after a few moments of staring.

 “No, no! It’s cute!” Hanayo quickly scooped up a dollop of ice cream and sauce, tiny pieces of almond falling off the top as she hurried to eat some. “And delicious!” she warbled.

 Eli’s lip twitched upwards slightly, but her eyes seem to dance with hidden amusement. She took a slow and careful sip of her coffee, seemingly unbothered by it’s bitterness that Hanayo could smell from across the table.  
  
“When...When did you start your _Etsy_ store?” Hanayo asked with the same caution as if she were sneaking around a tiger.  
  
“A while back, when I was still in high school,” Eli answered, her fingers curling around the handle of her drink.  
  
“Your designs are so cute, I wish I could create things like that one day.”  
  
Eli tilted her head to the side, “You seem like the creative type. Why are you working in a game store then?”  
  
Hanayo bit her lip, not sure whether Eli was insulting in her.  
  
“I-In all honesty, I like video games...I’d love to design things for video games someday, but working at the game store is also spending money for myself,” Hanayo answered, looking Eli directly in the eyes.  
  
The blonde shrugged, “That’s fair I guess,” then took another sip of her drink.  
  
“This needs more chocolate, in my opinion.”  
  
“W-Would you like to try some of the hot chocolate you got me?” Hanayo tentatively pushed the mug closer to Eli.  
  
For the first time, Hanayo saw Eli pout. It wasn’t a pout of annoyance, but _longing.  
_  
“C-Can I?” Eli asked quietly, and Hanayo nodded dumbly.  
  
“Sure you can, you bought it after all.”  
  
Like a timid animal, Eli reached out and took the mug’s handle, bringing it to her lips. She took a sip, and instantly her eyes lit up.  
  
“H-Harasho, that’s amazing,” Eli muttered breathlessly, and Hanayo couldn’t help but grin at the foam moustache the blonde was now sporting.   
  
The next ten minutes went by with idle small talk, until Eli finally addressed the elephant in the room.  
  
“I guess you know I used to date Nozomi.”  
  
Hanayo froze up, the spoon in her hand trembling.  
  
“Y-Yes...Maki-chan told me because I asked her...I-I was curious and it was wrong of me I know,” Hanayo quickly stumbled over her instant acknowledgement of prying, but Eli remained stoic as ever.  
  
“So I guess you know that we are trying to be friends,” Eli traced her nail over the table.  
  
“I’ll admit, it’s had….how can you be friends with someone you used to love?” Eli’s eyes turned glassy with thought.  
  
“When I first go to know Nozomi, I thought she was incredible...there was no one else to be concerned with when she was around. She’s beautiful, caring and cheeky...she _did_ tease me a lot but that’s because she loved me, I guess,” A grin quirked at Eli’s lip while Hanayo just sat there in silence.  
  
Hanayo didn’t know what to do, let alone think. She looked down at her hot chocolate as if it would magically tell her the answer, and tightened her grip on her pants. She had never really been in that situation before.  
  
“You know Nozomi loves Halloween,” Eli mentioned out of the blue, completely catching Hanayo off guard.  
  
“Anything spooky with ghosts or witches in it, she is all over it. I honestly think she prefers Halloween to Christmas.”  


* * *

 

Nozomi stared down at her phone, twitching her septum piercing. Sunday was normally rather busy, but today was not overly, and therefore Nozomi had time to actually check her phone. The message that lit up the screen was not something she was particularly fond of.

 _Kusuda Aina to EZ AKIBA:_ _Store meeting today @ 5!!_ _  
__  
_ “Really?” Nozomi sighed and glanced at the time. 4:30.  
  
“You’re going to call a meeting _now?”  
_  
Hanayo came out of the backroom, curiously looking at her senpai with a stack of defective games in her hands.  
  
“We’re having a store meeting tonight,” Nozomi put her phone under the counter, but it vibrated again.  
  
“Oh come on,” she hissed, picking it up and looking at the screen. The older employee’s face fell flat.  
  
Confused, Hanayo placed the stack on the counter and peered curiously at Nozomi’s phone.

_Mimori Suzuko to EZ Akiba: KEEEEENNNN!!!_

 “Suzuko-Senpai seems happy.”  
  
“She’s _always_ happy,” Nozomi rolled her eyes, placing her phone down again.  
  
When it vibrated, Nozomi didn’t even bother to check it, instead she let out a groan and picked up the box at her feet to place on the counter.  
  
“It’s going to be more crap from Mimorin,” Nozomi explained as she started to scan the barcodes of the defective cases and threw them into the box.  
  
Hanayo took out her phone from her pocket and opened the messenger app. To her astonishment, Nozomi was right. The chat was full of emojis and gifs from Mimorin, along with some ‘yaaaayys!’ from Emitsun.  
  
“So how does a store meeting work?” Hanayo pocketed her phone after sending back an emoji.  
  
“The other three come to the store after we shut the doors, and Kussun just tells us some stuff,” Nozomi tapped a few buttons on the keyboard and bent down to the printer. _  
_

_..._

Soon enough, the three other employees came into the store one by one. Of course, the first to arrive was Emitsun, who was practically spilling at her edges with excitement. She hugged Hanayo tightly and did the same with Nozomi, who stiffened up but returned the hug nonetheless.  
  
When Mimorin and Kussun arrived with ten minute intervals between them, Kussun shut the door behind her and stretched out her arms.  
  
“Alrighty, let’s get this over with. I have a yakiniku don that’s practically calling my name.”  
  
Kussun, in her dress, was something Hanayo was not used to seeing. Come to think of it, she had rarely seen any of the other staff members in regular clothing.  
  
Kussun sat on the counter and looked at them all, except for Nozomi who was behind her counting the tills.  
  
“So, as you all know, the EZ Expo is coming in a couple of weeks, so that’s going to be our primary focus.”  
  
Hanayo blinked, the EZ Expo was something she had gone to last year with some friends from high school. She really enjoyed it, there were tonnes of vendors and promotions for the latest games and so many people were in cosplay.  
  
“Now I had to fiddle with the roster a bit, but what I’ve decided is that Mimorin and myself will be the only ones who will work at it this year.”  
  
“Thank god,” Nozomi muttered absentmindedly, but then her face fell.  
  
“Wait, does that mean-”  
  
“Yes it does, Nontan, you’ll be in the store all weekend,” Kussun smirked at the woman, who was holding a handful of coins.  
  
The coins dropped back into the till as Nozomi paled.  
  
“ _But,_ don’t worry,” Kussun quickly raised a finger in the air, then pointed towards Hanayo.  
  
“Hanayo-chan will be with you all three days, and Emitsun is coming in for three hours to cover your lunch breaks. Sound good?”  
  
“I-I’m not going to go to the expo?” Hanayo asked sadly, and Kussun gave her a grim smile.  
  
“Sorry Hanayo-chan, you’re still new. Working at the expo is really hard, so I’m putting you in the store with Nontan, and next year I’ll roster you on, okay?”  
  
“I guess,” Hanayo sighed sadly and curled into herself, but squeaked when Emitsun threw an arm around her.  
  
“Cheer up, Kayo-chan! We’ll have a blast working together!”  
  
Kussun continued to talk, but it was all just white noise to Hanayo. She smiled awkwardly and nodded in agreement with Emitsun, then looked over at Nozomi, who genuinely seemed to be crestfallen from her expression.

* * *

  
  
When the meeting finished, the three older employees left Hanayo and Nozomi to finish up closing. Soon enough, they were in the back room changing their shirts and getting ready to leave.  
  
“Nozomi-senpai?” Hanayo asked once they had run out of the store and made sure the metal shutters were locked in place.  
  
Nozomi made a grunt to indicate she was paying attention while she smacks along the shutters to make sure nothing was loose.  
  
“What is working at the expo like?”  
  
Nozomi turned around and stuffed her hands in her pockets as a thoughtful look spread across her face.  
  
“It’s not the _worst_ experience, but it’s tiring,” Nozomi answered then looked down at her feet as she remembered.  
  
“I’ve always had mundane jobs, like working at a kiosk selling merch or been at the ticket booth. Some smaller staff have to wear the mascot outfits, and others get to work on vendors, or perhaps doing line management. It depends, because you don’t get to choose what you work on.”  
  
“Really?” Hanayo paled at the thought of managing lines of people, or being stuffed into a hot furry costume for children’s entertainment.  
  
“Yeah, but…” Nozomi’s eyes flickered with an expression Hanayo had never seen before. The older girl hunched her shoulders up and avoided Hanayo’s gaze, like some scared child.  
  
“Nozomi-senpai? Are you okay?” Hanayo asked tentatively, taking a step towards her.  
  
“Yeah…” Nozomi’s voice was airy, yet there was a pain to it, as if something traumatic had happened. However, she shook her head and shot a smile at Hanayo, that was clearly fake.  
  
“Nothing to worry ‘bout though, that’s not our problem. Maybe next year you can work at it,” she winked and started to walk away from the store, with Hanayo following.  
  
“So it’s going to be you and me for the weekend of the expo,” Hanayo wrung her hands and trotted to keep up with her senpai.  
  
“Yep, it’s gonna be fun,” Nozomi took the cigarette from behind her ear once they had passed through the automatic glass doors.  
  
“And I don’t mean that with any offence,” she quickly added with the cigarette now between her lips.  
  
“You’re my favourite person to work with, I reckon.”  
  
Hanayo blushed furiously, her insides swelled with warmth.  
  
“R-Really?”  
  
“Yeah, I mean...despite what I said, I like working at the expo because it’s a nice change to working in the store, but this time I’ll be with you,” Nozomi smiled, exhaling the smoke from her lips.  
  
“We’re gonna have a blast, I’ll make sure of it.”


End file.
